A 19-year-old driver was shot and killed in Albuquerque when a 31-year-old man allegedly brake-checked him repeatedly before opening fire. Cecilio Lopez faces charges including open murder in the death of Roman Valenciano. The incident unfolded Thursday afternoon on San Mateo Boulevard.
Cecilio Lopez, 31, is accused of initiating a road rage encounter around 1:45 p.m. Thursday on San Mateo Boulevard in northeast Albuquerque. Driving a silver Ford Mustang, Lopez made a U-turn and pulled into the path of 19-year-old Roman Valenciano's gray Nissan Sentra, according to court records and local reports. Surveillance video captured the Mustang periodically brake-checking the Sentra and stopping in the road as both headed southbound, the Albuquerque Journal reported citing the criminal complaint from KOAT and KOB affiliates. Valenciano was en route to pick up his mother after work when, near Tully's restaurant, Lopez pulled alongside and fired two shots at approximately 1:48 p.m., matching a ShotSpotter alert. One bullet struck Valenciano in the face, and he stopped in the roadway, slumped over and bleeding from the head. Officers pronounced him dead at the scene. Lopez fled but returned to the area three times to observe the investigation before going home, authorities said. Using license plate readers, surveillance footage, and cellphone data, police identified the Mustang despite Lopez having it painted black that night. SWAT arrested him Friday evening at a North Valley residence. Lopez, on probation for a prior felony and previously charged as a juvenile in a 2012 fatal stabbing, faces charges of open murder, shooting at or from a vehicle resulting in death, tampering with evidence, and felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors seek pretrial detention, calling the act 'extremely reckless and dangerous.' Valenciano's mother wrote on a GoFundMe page that her son was 'a bright light and a sweet soul' whose 'kindness and joy left a lasting impact.' Lopez remains at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
