ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Two different murders in the Northeast Heights have some startling connections.
Izaiah Garcia was arrested Monday night for the killing of Sandia High School student Sean Markey at a party after homecoming.
There are also connections between Garcia and another murder victim, Cayla Campos.
Campos was murdered at Bianchetti Park almost two weeks ago, but it just so happens Garcia was arrested for Markey’s murder at a house right across the street. “He was a really good friend,” a friend of Markey said. “He was the friend that never left by your side.”
On September 29, Sandia High School student Sean Markey, 17, was shot and killed at a house party on Garcia Street near Eubank and Montgomery. “I never imagined that I would have to be doing this, that I would be here without her,” a friend of Campos said.
On October 18, Cayla Campos, 21, was shot and killed after her boyfriend said they were playing Pokemon Go at Bianchetti Park after witnessing a robbery in progress.
When she tried to drive away, she was shot and crashed into a home. “I am sorry to the family of the victim, and I hope they caught the suspect,” a neighbor said.
The suspect in Markey’s case, 19-year-old Izaiah Garcia was arrested Monday night, and it appears Garcia has connections to Campos.
First, he was arrested at a home on Granite Avenue next to Bianchetti Park, several doors down from where Campos’s car crashed. “Tons of kids come and go from that home,” a neighbor said. “There are different cars everyday.
Campos’s apartment is just a two-minute walk away. “In some ways, you have to think that maybe it is somehow all related,” a neighbor said.
The two also share friends on social media. Both are known to hang out in the Heights. The locations of Markey’s murder and Campos’s murder are just about a 10-minute drive apart.
KRQE News 13 asked APD if they are investigating a connection between the two cases. APD said they have no updates at this time.
While Markey’s family did not want to comment on a possible connection Tuesday, they said their hearts go out to Campos’s family. “I did go to her viewing the other day and did talk to her parents just to give them my support,” Markey’s mom said.
At this time we still do not know why investigators think Garcia killed Markey at that party after Sandia’s homecoming dance.
In a rare move, police asked a judge to seal the criminal complaint.
Garcia may also be connected to a suspect in another murder.
Julio Almentero, 15, is accused of torturing and murdering a pair of high schoolers over drugs.
In court paperwork, the DA’s office said Almentero, was at the party the night Sandia student Sean Markey was killed. He was seen firing off a gun outside that party.
