In the early hours of February 28, 2022, the sound of gunshots echoed from an apartment on Garrity Boulevard in Nampa, Idaho. When paramedics arrived at the scene, they discovered the body of 39-year-old Gerardo Quintero, a male resident of Ontario, Oregon. He had been fatally shot. The Nampa Police Department immediately launched a homicide investigation into the death of Quintero.
A month after the shooting, the investigation led to the arrest of 21-year-old Pedro Gabriel Archuleta.
He was taken into custody by the Parma Police Department and initially faced a charge of second-degree murder, along with drug-related offenses. Shortly after Archuleta's arrest, authorities identified a second individual, 25-year-old Devin Alapati Jones of Meridian, as a suspect in the case. A warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and he was considered armed and dangerous before being apprehended by police in Boise.
Further details emerged, suggesting the tragic incident stemmed from a dispute over a misplaced phone. Quintero had gone to the apartment, which belonged to an acquaintance of Archuleta and Jones, to retrieve a phone he believed the two men had stolen. It was later reported that the phone was found on the owner's bed. Quintero had been told one of the men was armed and had entered the apartment with his own gun drawn before the fatal shots were fired.
The legal proceedings for both suspects concluded with plea agreements that significantly altered the initial murder charges. Pedro Gabriel Archuleta pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, and the second-degree murder charge against him was dismissed. He was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison. Devin Alapati Jones pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. The charge of aiding and abetting murder was dropped. He was sentenced to at least seven years in prison, with the possibility of earlier release based on his participation in rehabilitation programs.
