ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Izaiah Garcia, the man behind a deadly shooting at a homecoming party in 2019, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday. In 2021, Garcia was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing 17-year-old Sean Markey outside a home near Eubank and Montgomery in 2019.
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Markey was an innocent bystander at a 2019 homecoming party. Witnesses claimed Garcia showed up at the party to seek revenge on another teen. Instead, Markey is the one who was shot by a bullet that ricocheted. “Sean was murdered at 17 years old by a coward with a gun. The most tragic part is that it was for nothing,” said Sean’s brother, Cole Markey.
Before District Court Judge Brett Lovelace handed Garcia his sentence, prosecutors argued Garcia was a threat to society asking he is given the maximum. “It seems as though anybody who crosses Izaiah Garcia gets a target on their back and it is for these reasons that he cannot remain in society, he needs to be extracted from society and placed in a facility that the rest of society can be safe from a person like this,” said State Prosecutor John Duran.
Now more than three years later, Markey’s family is hoping for some closure. “There are so many ways this horrible nightmare has impacted me, but the main thing I come back to is how this has impacted my family. There is no justice that will bring Seany back,” said Markey’s aunt, Tara Ross. While the prosecution and family asked Garcia to be given the maximum sentence, Garcia’s family claims he is innocent. “Knowing the character of my son and the love that he has shown and grew up with I know that my son could have not done this, wrong place, wrong time, for both of these boys and two lives were taken that night,” said Garcia’s mom, Laila Garcia.
Judge Brett Lovelace handed Garcia a life sentence plus two and a half years.
Garcia is also set to stand trial in September for a separate shooting that left 21-year-old Cayla Campos dead. Campos was killed in a shooting at Bianchetti Park near Lomas and Tramway in October 2019. Investigators say she and her boyfriend were playing Pokémon Go at the park on a Friday night when Garcia shot Campos. Investigators believe Garcia shot at Campos and her boyfriend as they tried to drive away from witnessing a robbery.
Garcia is also accused of stabbing an inmate last April while in MDC custody.
