Two cousins’ evening of drinking together turned violent Tuesday at a residence in Chapelle, just south of Las Vegas, N.M., where one of the men was accused of fatally shooting his relative.
Melecio Baca, 53, is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of 36-year-old Juanito Baca, according to online court records.
Although an amended criminal complaint filed Wednesday in San Miguel County Magistrate Court says Melecio Baca was arrested a day after the shooting, New Mexico State Police Lt. Mark Soriano said he is still on the run and that he is unsure why the complaint lists an arrest date. An employee at the San Miguel County jail confirmed Melecio Baca had not been booked into the facility as of Thursday afternoon.
The suspect’s father, 77-year-old Eligio Baca, who reported the shooting, told state police investigators Juanito Baca “was like a son to him,” which often caused Melecio Baca to be jealous of his cousin.
“Melecio recently would talk about [his jealousy] in the past two to three years since Melecio started living [on Eligio’s property],” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Melecio and Juanito Baca were both drinking alcohol at Eligio’s Chapelle residence Tuesday before leaving the home at about 5 or 5:30 p.m. in the elder Baca’s truck to “take water,” the affidavit states.
State police Officer Wilson Silver said there is a shared water source for Eligio Baca and his nephew’s homes — which are listed as being about 600 or 700 yards away from each other in the affidavit — and added the homes might not have running water.
The cousins returned to Juanito Baca’s nearby residence at about 6:30 or 7 p.m. According to the affidavit, Eligio Baca heard at least one gunshot come from his nephew’s home shortly afterwards. Melecio Baca then drove back to his father’s house and told him he thought he killed Juanito Baca.
Eligio Baca got into his truck — which was full of blood on the passenger side — and drove to his nephew’s house. He found Juanito Baca’s body with “a lot of blood coming from his head area,” according to the affidavit.
“Eligio drove back to his residence where Melecio was and asked him to give him the handgun he had. Melecio told Eligio no, he was going to go kill himself,” the affidavit continues.
It was unclear from the affidavit whether Melecio was saying he wanted to kill himself or feared his father might, and state police were unable to clarify that Thursday.
Eligio Baca went outside and started cleaning the blood out of his truck when he realized his pants were bloody. He left the bloodstained pants in the truck and went to change. Melecio Baca took the bloody pants — along with a handgun and a rifle — with him in a different truck when he left the residence, according to the affidavit.
A woman reported a suspicious vehicle south of her property on San Miguel County Road A20 to state police, which turned out to be Melecio Baca’s getaway vehicle. The suspect, who was with another man named Jose Lucero, told a responding officer his truck had broken down, and since law enforcement was not aware of the shooting at the time Melecio Baca was not detained, according to the affidavit.
Soriano said the getaway vehicle was found unoccupied at the same location and recovered by investigators once law enforcement was made aware of the Juanito Baca’s death.