On the evening of April 12, 2023, 18-year-old Hispanic male Devin Perez was with his girlfriend, along with Kyle Dayea, 23, and Tylea Chavez, 19, and they had been drinking alcohol. An argument broke out between Perez and his girlfriend, leading to Perez leaving on foot. Later that night, in the early hours of April 13, 2023, Perez was fatally shot outside a Circle K convenience store at 1100 Old Coors SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Albuquerque police officers responded to a shooting call and found Perez deceased at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds.
Subsequent investigation by APD homicide detectives led to the identification of Kyle Dayea and Tylea Chavez as the primary suspects. According to Chavez's statement to detectives, after dropping off Perez's girlfriend, she and Dayea went looking for Perez. She claimed they found him back at the Circle K, and that Dayea, who she said suffers from schizophrenia, was having a psychotic episode. Chavez told police that after their SUV hit a curb and got a flat tire, Dayea grabbed a shotgun from the back seat, got out of the car, and shot Devin four times. She stated that Dayea got back in the vehicle and they fled the scene.
During his interview with detectives, Dayea initially claimed he had blacked out during the incident. However, he later admitted to remembering the shooting. He told investigators that Chavez was angry and told him to "get him," which he interpreted as an instruction to shoot Perez. He also stated that Chavez told him to pick up the shotgun shell after the shooting. On April 26, 2023, detectives located and arrested Dayea and Chavez. A search of the residence where they were found yielded three shotguns, phones, and the vehicle used during the homicide. Both Kyle Dayea and Tylea Chavez were booked into the Metro Detention Center on open counts of murder and tampering with evidence.
