DA: Motive in killing could be self-defense

PNT staff writer

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District Attorney Andrea Reeb said Monday the death of a Portales man early Saturday morning may have been a case of self-defense.

Fabian Madrid, 26, of Portales was shot to death in the 900 block of North Avenue J, according to Reeb.

The only suspect in the shooting is being held in the Roosevelt County jail on a parole violation.

Reeb said her office probably will not decide whether to file charges “until the ballistic and the crime lab reports come back.”

She said that could take a couple of months.

Reeb declined to comment further on the case, saying she doesn’t discuss specifics of a case until charges have been filed.

“Our policy is to let the local police department handle the release of information … because we do not want to hinder their investigation,” Reeb said.

Portales police Sgt. Eric Muller said several witnesses have been interviewed, but he declined to comment further. He said the department would be issuing a press release today with details of the incident.

Muller said in a Saturday press release that police responded to a call at 6:22 a.m. Saturday in reference to shots fired in the 900 block of N. Ave. J.

Neighbors said they heard a loud bang about 6 a.m. One neighbor said when police arrived on the scene they told him two males were involved in an altercation.

David Montoya, of 909 N. Ave. J., said he heard loud noises Saturday morning and saw a man lying inside his gate, “passed out in front of my door.”

Montoya said he saw the man when an ambulance arrived at his house.

Montoya said he heard what sounded like one or two gunshots, “but then I didn’t hear anything else” just before the ambulance arrived.

The man was “laying still” when the ambulance arrived, according to Montoya. He said he did not know the victim.

Montoya described the neighborhood as “pretty quiet” most of the time.

Police said Madrid was transported to Roosevelt General Hospital where he later died.

Madrid’s body was sent to the Office of the Medical Investigator for an autopsy.

Muller said he expects results from the autopsy by this morning.