Erik Verto Rodriguez, 20, male, Hispanic/Latino, was found shot to death on November 27, 2020, after deputies responded to reports of multiple gunshots on Navajo Lane in the Meadow Lake community of Valencia County, New Mexico. He and his older brother, 23-year-old Roque Alejandro Rodriguez, were discovered inside a home as deputies swept the scene following the 3 a.m. call for “shots fired.”
Detectives quickly began piecing together what happened in the quiet residential area, sharing an early lookout for a car seen leaving: a dark-colored sedan with its hood and front end in primer paint, carrying either a Texas license plate or a New Mexico temporary tag. That lead, circulated publicly the afternoon after the killings, hinted at a hurried getaway and a suspect or suspects on the move, but it stopped short of naming anyone.
Public records memorializing Rodriguez’s death confirm the date and place, and show how the case reverberated far beyond the cul-de-sac where the brothers were found. A remembrance page marking those lost to gun violence lists him among the lives cut short that day in Meadow Lake, while cemetery records reflect a burial in Albuquerque soon after. Together, they trace the arc from the sudden violence to the final rites.
Despite early tips about the vehicle, authorities did not announce an arrest, and contemporaneous coverage emphasized that investigators were still seeking answers and had not identified a suspect. Archive summaries of the incident likewise record the double homicide in the Meadow Lake/Los Lunas area with no public resolution, underscoring the absence of any confirmed suspect in custody.
