On a summer evening in Albuquerque's International District, the life of 29-year-old Raymond Ortiz Jr. came to a violent and tragic end. On June 20, 2021, witnesses described a horrifying scene as Ortiz managed to escape from the trunk of a vehicle near the intersection of Chico Road and Pennsylvania Street. His bid for freedom was short-lived. Two men emerged from the same car, relentlessly pursuing him.
The assailants, armed with a bat, brutally beat Ortiz before shooting him multiple
times. They fled the scene immediately after the attack, leaving Ortiz to succumb to his injuries. For over three years, the case remained cold, a painful and unresolved chapter for his family and the community. The Office of the Medical Investigator would later report that Ortiz had sustained between eight and ten gunshot wounds, including one to his head.
In November 2024, a breakthrough in the investigation brought a measure of hope for justice. The Albuquerque Police Department announced the arrests of two suspects in connection with the murder. Christopher Tkach, 40, and Shamon Pacheco, 33, were taken into custody and faced a litany of charges, including open counts of murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and tampering with evidence. Pacheco also faced a charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Court documents began to shed light on the motive behind the brutal slaying. An informant revealed that the tragic events were set in motion by a dispute over a drug-related debt and an allegation that Ortiz had stolen a handgun from one of his killers. The arrests of Tkach and Pacheco, now held at the Metropolitan Detention Center awaiting trial, marked a significant development in a case that had long been stagnant, promising a path toward accountability for the violent death of Raymond Ortiz.
