One Group Home Teen Assists in Murder of Bartender

“Lots of people want to know what led a group of teens down the path of violence. KRQE News 13 spoke with people who knew one the teens charged with the murder of an Albuquerque bartender.

Six teenagers, Christopher Rodriguez, 16, Jeremiah King, 16, Andrew Hubler, 15, Ryan Archibeque, 17, Enrique Palomino, 14, and Matthew Baldonado, 14, are all charged with the murder of 60-year-old Steve Gerecke.

The community is searching for answers. Two of the boys charged in the murder, Palomino and Baldonado, were too young to join their friends in court Friday. One man told KRQE News 13, 14-year-old Enrique Palomino didn’t have parents around to guide him.

“They executed my father in a horrific way,” said Heather Alter, during Friday’s press conference. “My dad didn’t deserve this.”

Alter is suffering from the loss of her father. Police said Gerecke was gunned down in his driveway last month when he confronted a group of teenagers who robbed his house.

Albuquerque Police said 16-year-old Jeremiah King pulled the trigger and laughed about it as he drove away with his five friends.

“I want to address the parents of these animals,” said Alter. “Where were you? Why did you let your children run the streets at three in the morning?”

No one has answered that question yet.

One man who spoke with KRQE News 13 doesn’t want to be identified, but said he knows Palomino well.

“He was supposed to be in CYFD custody,” the man said.

He said Palomino was in state custody, and ran away from a group home in Portales last year.

A spokesman for the Children Youth and Families Department could only confirm that 14-year-old Palomino was in their custody at some point, but couldn’t go into details due to privacy laws.

“It blows my mind that these kids are running out in the middle of the night like this,” said one woman, who didn’t want to be identified. She said she also knew Palomino.

Police said it was Palomino who told detectives he and his friends were “mobbing” neighborhoods, breaking into random cars and homes.

It’s the same M.O. captured on home surveillance from a separate case KRQE News 13 reported on last month. The man who knows Palomino said he’s 100 percent confident the people on video are the same kids involved in Gerecke’s murder.

Police haven’t confirmed that.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said one woman.

“I hold you, the parents, responsible,” said Alter. “Just know a tsunami is coming.”

KRQE News 13 also spoke with a teacher from Highland High School, where some of these teens went to school. He said a lot of teachers and administrators have trouble disciplining kids in class, for fear of retaliation from parents.

The man who said he knows Palomino told KRQE News 13 the 14-year-old’s dad is in prison, and his mother doesn’t keep close tabs on him.”

Sources: Teen murder suspects lacked guidance[KRQE 7/10/15 by Gabrielle Burkhart]

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