A New Mexico mother has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after driving her two teenage children to an apartment complex to allegedly shoot a man they believed was stalking them.
Raeanna Ruiz, 35, received a 20-year prison sentence on Thursday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, conspiracy, and aggravated battery in the October 2023 shooting death of Santiago Roybal, 19. According to a press release from the Albuquerque Police Department at the time, Ruiz was driving a white SUV that was captured on surveillance cameras pulling into the parking lot of an apartment complex in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Ruiz’s 15-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter were also in the car, and they allegedly chased down Roybal and shot him dead.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, surveillance video captured Roybal running away from the white SUV, which was later identified as being driven by Ruiz. Dylana Barela, Ruiz’s 16-year-old daughter, was spotted carrying a firearm, while her 15-year-old brother, Christopher Barela, was seen carrying a baseball bat.
Roybal’s friend, an apartment complex tenant, allowed the fleeing Roybal inside. The friend was shot as he closed the door, and the shooting continued afterward. Police said surveillance video captured a female voice yelling “Shoot through the door” as gunfire erupted.
One of those shots fatally struck Roybal, according to police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the shooting, a man and a woman were seen fleeing the flat.
In an interview with police, Dylana Barela allegedly stated that she believed a man had been “stalking” her for months and looking into her bedroom window. When she spotted a man in the family’s backyard on October 18, 2023, she informed her mother and grabbed a gun. Dylana Barela allegedly told police that Christopher Barela grabbed a baseball bat, and the three family members went to confront him in the backyard.
According to court documents obtained by the Albuquerque Journal, Dylana Barela stated that after the family chased Roybal down to the flat, which was blocks away from the family’s home, her mother instructed her to shoot him.
According to the police, Dylana Barela stated that “it was not supposed to happen this way, and that they were only supposed to beat this guy and maybe pistol whip him a few times.”
Following the shooting, investigators reviewed the surveillance video and identified “several distinct features” on the SUV, including “the rims on the vehicle, the taillights, and the front grille of the vehicle,” as well as “a black dealership logo” and a UNM plate, making it easy to track the vehicle down to Ruiz. Ruiz also allegedly discussed the incident on Facebook with a friend and requested recommendations for a lawyer.
Ruiz told her friend before the shooting that she believed the person in her backyard was “[s]tealing.” The friend allegedly encouraged Ruiz, saying, “Go get them gangster.”
Ruiz parked her white SUV in front of her friend’s home and covered it with a tarp, according to police.
Dylana and Christopher Barela were also charged with open murder and are being held at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Centre.
