Jan. 12—A man is accused of fatally shooting two others during a reported drug and firearm deal last summer.
Nathaniel Laws, 19, of Albuquerque is charged with counts of murder, armed robbery with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence in the shooting deaths of Abdullah Abbas, 20, and Kylee Silva, 17.
Laws is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. A detention hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, according to court records.
Laws’ attorney could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Police identified Laws through police databases and social media, according to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court. Police said Laws told them he shot Abbas in “self-defense.”
At about 4:30 p.m. June 4, the Albuquerque Police Department received a call of a homicide in the 3100 block of Jane Place, near Candelaria and Juan Tabo NE.
When officers arrived, they found Silva dead on the ground near a vehicle passenger door with a “minimum of six” gunshot wounds to the head and lungs, police said. Police also saw a man — later identified as Abbas — on the ground next to the car with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a local hospital before dying on June 9, according to the complaint.
A witness told police he heard three gunshots before looking out of his window and seeing a man — later identified as Laws — he thought was breaking into a vehicle, police said. Laws headed east by Matheson Park after the witness called out at Laws to “get out of here,” according to the complaint.
Prior to Laws’ meeting with Abbas, Abbas sent a photo of a firearm to Silva the morning of June 4, hours before the shooting, “saying someone was buying off him,” according to the complaint.
Police said “multiple people” told them Abbas sold drugs and firearms on Telegram and had received cocaine and vape cartridges hours before his death.
“It is believed the suspect stole these items from Abdullah during the homicide,” police said.
Police later, with input from one of Abbas’ friends, found a photo on social media later determined to be belonging to Laws, according to the complaint.
After an unrelated carjacking in October, police found a cell phone containing information stating Laws was selling ammo and Abbas’ firearm, police said.
Laws told police there was “one deal that was supposed to go down” on the day of the homicide, the complaint states. “I was in possession of a tan firearm but I disassembled that and got rid of it,” he said.
He said the shooting was in self-defense, according to police.
“‘He asked for more money and then I said I couldn’t, (and) he reached for the gun and it was so fast,'” the complaint states.
It is unclear why Silva was shot.
Prosecutors filed a motion to keep Laws behind bars, saying “the defendant shot and killed Silva and Abdullah in a robbery for guns and drugs.”
“This behavior is dangerous and extreme,” the motion states. “The defendant seemingly killed so that he could sell these items off to other people. There are no conditions of release that can be set that will ensure public safety.”