In the quiet evening hours of April 7, 2026, the life of 20-year-old Gabriel Montano, a Hispanic male, was brought to a sudden and violent end in an Albuquerque, New Mexico neighborhood west of Old Town. Responding to calls of gunfire shortly after 8 p.m., police discovered Montano's body in the street on Don Gabal Loop NW. At the scene, officers were met with an unusual sight: two men, 22-year-old Xavier Torres and 19-year-old John Gonzales, standing with their hands in the air as if awaiting
arrest.
The two men were taken into custody and quickly claimed they had shot Montano in self-defense, alleging that he had reached for a handgun he was carrying in a cross-body pack. However, homicide detectives began to see cracks in their story, noting inconsistencies in their statements. The investigation would soon reveal a more calculated series of events. It came to light that Torres and Gonzales had intentionally lured Montano to their residence with the expectation that he would be armed. They admitted to arming themselves with what they termed "big shit" to match the "energy" of Montano, who was known to post pictures of himself with firearms and money on the social media platform Telegram.
Surveillance footage of the encounter told a different story than the one of self-defense. The video reportedly showed one of the suspects taking a small step back before firing approximately 10 to 15 shots at Montano without any apparent warning. A subsequent search of the home and a vehicle belonging to Torres uncovered a significant number of weapons. Investigators found a backpack containing handgun magazines, a Glock handgun was discovered in a children's bedroom, and a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun was also recovered. Both Xavier Torres and John Gonzales were charged with an open count of murder and booked into the Metro Detention Center. It was later revealed that Torres was already facing a pending charge from a 2023 incident for allegedly pointing a gun at his then-girlfriend and her family, and Gonzales had a juvenile criminal record from 2023.
In a later development, the investigation led to the arrest of the suspects' mother, 44-year-old Latasha Hicks. She was charged in connection to the fatal shooting, facing accusations of murder, conspiracy, and child abuse. Authorities alleged that Hicks had assisted her sons in obtaining firearms and had also been untruthful about the existence of a surveillance camera that captured the crime. While court and jail records indicated that Gonzales remained in custody for the shooting, Torres had been released at some point following his initial arrest.
