ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – On Saturday, the Albuquerque Police Department announced the name of the 15-year-old boy that died in a house fire during a SWAT situation Thursday morning in the southeast part of town. Preliminary results of the autopsy of Brett Rosenau identify his cause of death as smoke inhalation.
Police say Rosenau was not shot by anyone. A full autopsy report with toxicology and CO2 results will be released later by the Office of the Medical Investigator.
On Wednesday night, APD was searching for Qiaunt Kelley, who had violated his parole for armed carjacking and stolen vehicle charges. He was located at a home on the 8100 block of San Joaquin, SE. According to an APD press release, detectives later discovered a gun in the car Kelley drove to the home and determined the motorcycle he was working on at the home was stolen.
Kelley was also wanted for questioning related to the June 26 shooting death of Leonard Fresquez, as well as an officer-involved shooting in May, and an armed robbery.
Police say after Kelley fled into the home, Rosenau followed into the home and Kelley barricaded themselves inside. The APD SWAT team and deputies with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office attempted to convince Kelley to leave the house for several hours. Police used public address announcements and also placed a phone inside the home to make contact with the two males. Police say dozens of calls were made but crisis negotiators never made contact with Kelley or Rosenau.
A drone and robots were used to determine who was in the house and used to activate powder irritants into the home to get the two males out of the house.
The standoff ended when officers noticed smoke coming from the house. Using a drone, they were able to determine there was an active fire in the home.
Kelley exited the home with burn injuries as Albuquerque Fire Rescue arrived on the scene. Kelley was taken to the hospital with burn injuries. He was later arrested and booked into jail for his warrants. Rosenau was found dead inside the home.
APD says AFR’s arson investigation to determine the cause of the fire is likely to take about two weeks.
