Inset: Erica Valdez (Albuquerque Police Department). Background: The scene in Albuquerque, N.M., where Erica Valdez shot and killed her husband Joel Valdez (KRQE/YouTube).
A New Mexico woman is headed to prison for shooting and killing her estranged husband after months of fighting over adulterous relationships they were both having outside their marriage.
Erica Valdez was sentenced in Bernalillo County to 15 years in prison for her fatal 2023 gun attack on her husband, Joel Valdez, 39, in Albuquerque. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and shooting at a dwelling with a firearm enhancement.
Authorities said the married couple had been arguing for months before things came to a head on the Fourth of July when Joel Valdez confronted Erica Valdez and her alleged lover, James Sena, at a Motel 6 where Sena worked as a security guard. Erica Valdez claimed Joel Valdez also had a “mistress” he had been seeing who was with him at the time of the confrontation.
Joel Valdez went to a room where his wife was and Sena allegedly pointed a gun at him as Erica Valdez screamed at Joel Valdez and the woman he was with, ordering them both to leave or she would shoot them with what she claimed was an automatic handgun, according to prosecutors.
Later that night, police said Erica Valdez went to the home she shared with Joel Valdez and pulled a gun on him with an extended “clip.” The woman that Joel Valdez was with called 911 and Erica Valdez could be heard saying, “You better get that female out of the house before I shoot her,” according to police.
“[Erica] Valdez made multiple attempts to shoot her estranged husband,” Bernalillo County DA Sam Bregman said in a statement Tuesday announcing Erica Valdez”s sentence.
“She first fired at him with an automatic pistol while he was outside his home,” Bregman recounted, noting how Erica Valdez left the home after opening fire and allegedly returned with Sena two hours later.
“She shot and killed him a few streets away,” Bregman said.
A relative told police that Erica Valdez called them after the attack and said, “I just sprayed the house.”
Police said the couple’s 16-year-old daughter saw her mother driving off and found her dad’s dead body in the road, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Police recovered bullet casings at the scene matching the same caliber found in the road directly in front of the residence where Erica Valdez opened fire earlier.
According to prosecutors, Erica Valdez was antagonizing her husband in the months leading up to the shooting, calling him “b—” and belittling him. The relationship continued to worsen, with prosecutors saying Erica started seeing other men, “thus increasing the tension in the home.”
The couple’s daughter told her father about her mother’s actions just days before the Motel 6 confrontation and shooting attack.
“Upon hearing of Erica’s other relationships, Joel became verbally angry and began to scream,” according to court documents. “After that day, Joel began to have relationships outside the marriage.”
According to the Journal, Erica Valdez was charged in April 2023 with 911 abuse after allegedly calling police 27 times to report domestic violence.
Prosecutors wanted Erica Valdez to serve 25 years in prison, according to DA Bregman. “However, the judge sentenced Valdez to 15 years,” he said in his statement.
Sena, who was charged with conspiracy to commit a first-degree felony, took a plea deal in 2024 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. His conspiracy charge was dismissed.
Jason Kandel contributed to this report.
