A jury has convicted a man of first-degree murder and aggravated assault in connection with the 2022 shooting death of a teenager.
After a five-day trial in New Mexico’s 5th District Court, jurors returned with a guilty verdict against 21-year-old Daniel Flores.
Most of the evidence against Flores was indirect, but after three hours of deliberation, the jury found that the evidence presented was sufficient to conclude that Flores was either the shooter or an accomplice in the shooting that left 15-year-old Damyn Rodriguez dead.
“Ultimately, the facts presented spoke for themselves and proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” District Attorney Dianna Luce said in an email to the Roswell Daily Record on Wednesday.
Gary Mitchell, Flores’ attorney, did not return a call by press time asking about his reaction to the case and whether his client plans to appeal the verdict.
Although prosecutors initially argued that Flores was the shooter, Luce and Assistant District Attorney Timothy Wyatt, who prosecuted the case, later told jurors that Flores could be guilty of first-degree murder even if he had not pulled the trigger.
The jury instructions stated that Flores would also be guilty of first-degree murder if the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that he “aided, abetted, or caused the commission of the crime.”
Rodriguez was shot and killed at around 2:30 a.m. on July 24, 2022, at Flores’ ex-girlfriend’s home on East Tilden Street.
The shooting occurred shortly after Flores’ ex-girlfriend and another woman brought Rodriguez and two other teenagers back into the house.
While they were drinking alcohol and taking drugs, a vehicle pulled up in front of the house with its lights on. A man dressed all in black and wearing a mask entered the house and fired six shots, one of which hit Rodriguez in the neck and killed him. The other two teens were shot but survived. One of the two injured was shot four times in the chest and the other once in the arm. The ex-girlfriend also suffered a minor injury.
The shooter then fled on foot, police said. Flores was arrested by U.S. Marshals six days later while visiting his mother and stepfather in Glendale, Arizona.
Luce and Wyatt claimed that the shooting occurred because Flores became jealous and angry because his ex-girlfriend had brought the three boys to her home. Prosecutors portrayed Flores as possessive and someone who frequently threatened his ex-girlfriend.
In her closing argument, Luce said that in Flores’ mind, his ex-girlfriend was “controllable by him, dominant by him, and separable from himself.” She cited as an example an incident in which Flores once told his ex-girlfriend that if he caught her with another man, “I’ll take you where your mother is,” referring to the fact that the woman’s mother is dead.
Prosecutors noted that after the shooting, but before he left, the gunman told his ex-girlfriend to watch out, saying, “I’m going to put you where your mother is, in the dirt.”
A green F-150 pickup truck was a central point in the prosecution’s case. Flores owned such a vehicle, registered to his grandfather, and was parked outside the house with its headlights on after the shooting. The ex-girlfriend told police that the vehicle was not at the house when she dropped off her guests at her home shortly before the shooting.
Although the ex-girlfriend had driven the pickup truck when she and Flores were a couple, Luce found that the ex-girlfriend did not have the keys when the shooting occurred.
While searching the pickup truck, investigators found mail addressed to Flores’ home and several .38-caliber cartridges. Police believe the bullets fired in the shooting came from a revolver that may be .38-caliber.
Prosecutors also pointed out that before the shooting, surveillance cameras at an intersection near the Tilden Street home showed a pickup truck circling the area. Although it was dark, it appeared there was more than one person in the vehicle, prosecutors said.
Other evidence included Flores’ DNA found on a cigarette butt near the house, a cellphone in Flores’ name discovered in a nearby alley shortly after the shooting, and some black clothing found in a dumpster in the alley not far from the house.
Mitchell said there was no evidence directly linking his client to the shooting. Flores had claimed he was at his sister’s house at the time of the shooting. He also noted that no one had identified Flores as the shooter and that no DNA or fingerprints belonging to Flores were found near the crime scene other than the cigarette butt.
He noted that Flores had lived in the house until shortly before the shooting, so the discovery of a cigarette butt with his DNA on it was not too surprising.
The cellphone found, Mitchell said, was used not only by Flores but by several other people as well. No text messages were found indicating intent to carry out the shooting, and Mitchell said there was no evidence Flores possessed or used the phone after 10 p.m. on July 23, 2022.
Mitchell also noted that Flores did not have a driver’s license and did not know how to drive the pickup truck. When testifying in court, Flores said he got the pickup truck when he and his ex-girlfriend were together so she could drive it.
Prosecutors also said Flores fled to Arizona to get away from the shooting. However, Mitchell claimed Flores’ trip to Arizona was planned long before the shooting so he could stay with his mother and stepfather while looking for work.
According to court records, Flores will be sentenced in the case on August 15.
