On the night of October 11, 2023, Brandy McManus, a 33-year-old mother, was inside her West Side Albuquerque, New Mexico, home with her 10-year-old daughter. The evening turned tragic at around 10 p.m. when two masked men began banging on her door, demanding she let them in so they could rob her. When Brandy refused to open the door, one of the men shot her through an exterior window.
She suffered a single gunshot wound and died at the scene.
The horrifying event unfolded in front of Brandy’s young daughter, who was not physically harmed. She called her father, who then dialed 911. As the two assailants fled, an armed neighbor who heard the shot came out of his house and exchanged gunfire with them. The neighbor was uninjured, and the men escaped by jumping into a car driven by a third accomplice.
Albuquerque Police Department homicide detectives, working with the department's Digital Intelligence Team, launched an investigation into the fatal shooting. Investigators learned that the men had planned to rob Brandy of a firearm they had seen in a social media post and that one of them knew either Brandy or her husband. By tracking cell phones used by the suspects, detectives were able to locate a gun that matched the one used in the killing.
The investigation led to the arrests of three men: Austin Wilkins, 28, Joseph Montoya, 32, and Kristopher Darling, 24. Darling was already in custody on unrelated charges at the time he was identified. According to court filings, Darling told police that the three men had been drinking, and that Wilkins and Montoya were using methamphetamine, before they drove to Brandy's home on Canis Avenue NW. All three men were charged with an open count of murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and tampering with evidence.
In August 2026, Austin Wilkins pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for his role in Brandy McManus’s death. The following month, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. As of September 2026, the cases against Joseph Montoya and Kristopher Darling were still pending.
