Inset: Ismael Tena (Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The O’Reilly Auto parts where Tena allegedly killed two men (Google Maps).
A New Mexico man is behind bars and two people are dead after an argument over products at an auto parts store turned violent, according to law enforcement in the Land of Enchantment.
Ismael Tena, 27, stands accused of two counts of open murder in the first degree, according to jail records.
The underlying incident occurred at the O’Reilly Auto Parts on Sunshine West Plaza Drive in Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office announced in a press release.
The defendant and his father had traveled to deal with their vehicle’s oil filter and ultimately change out the device – but the visit ended with two men dead.
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On Sunday afternoon, Tena and his dad went to the business to exchange their oil filter, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Albuquerque-based ABC affiliate KOAT.
Tena’s father told deputies they also requested two additional bottles of oil because the original two had been wasted since the first filter was “incorrect,” according to the sheriff’s office. An argument ensued with staff. Tena, upset, allegedly grabbed the oil he wanted and left.
But two store employees would not have it.
Richard Newman, 47, and Jesus Valdez, 18, followed Tena outside and confronted him, the sheriff’s office said. Tena allegedly grabbed a gun and shot both men. Newman died at the scene; Valdez succumbed to his injuries while being rushed to a nearby hospital.
The defendant then called 911 – saying he shot the men because they were “shoving and punching him” and “he was scared for his life.”
Law enforcement officials, however, says they were unable to find any evidence the store employees had become physical with the defendant – no markings on the defendant were consistent with an attack and there were no weapons found that were attributed to the slain men, the affidavit said.
The defendant was arrested after deputies pulled over his truck roughly two miles due east of the O’Reilly’s, the sheriff’s office said.
Newman’s family members mourned their loss.
“He was a hard worker, a provider. He did everything. Everything for us,” the slain man’s son told KOAT. “He cared. He did anything for anyone that he possibly can do. That weight will forever weigh heavy on us.”
Tena is currently detained in the Metropolitan Detention Center without bond.
The defendant appeared in court on Friday for a detention hearing. The judge opted to keep him detained until trial, according to a courtroom report by Albuquerque-based CBS and Fox affiliate KRQE.
During the hearing, two prior incidents involving gun violence and the defendant calling 911 on himself were highlighted by the state.
“Defendant is either the most unlucky person in the entire city or he’s bringing some of this upon himself,” a prosecutor argued.
While the defense noted Tena had never been convicted in those cases, the judge agreed they suggested a dangerous kind of trend within the man.
“I’m concerned about this defendant’s characteristics for impulsivity as demonstrated in the present case,” 2nd Judicial District Judge David Murphy said. “For introducing a gun into the situation and engaging in gun violence resulting in two deaths.”
