A deadly ambush during an attempted drug-related robbery in El Paso’s Lower Valley last summer resulted in the filing of capital murder charges, court documents showed.
A teenager was killed, two men were wounded — including one of the suspected robbers — and four suspects were arrested after a shooting on the night of June 25 on Lilac Way, El Paso police officials and court documents stated.
Alfredo Marquez and Destiny Aleah Acosta, both 19, and two juvenile boys were arrested in a connection with a planned robbery during a drug deal to buy THC cartridges, resulting in the death of 17-year-old Alejandro Lopez Mariscal, according to criminal complaint documents filed by detectives recently obtained by the El Paso Times.
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El Paso police public information officers had not previously released the names of the victim and suspects, identifying them only as two adults and two juveniles (three males and one female).
The driver of a Jeep Renegade that Lopez was riding in was wounded in the shooting as was Marquez, a robbery suspect who was shot in the arm “likely as result of crossfire” among the robbers, a complaint affidavit stated. The driver and Marquez survived. Lopez died.
Marquez and Acosta face charges of capital murder because the killing occurred during the commission of a robbery, court records showed. In Texas, capital murder is punishable by life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
The defense attorneys for Marquez and Acosta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The names of the other suspects and their charges were not available because they are juveniles. Security camera video, evidence and confessions were obtained in the homicide investigation by the Crimes Against Persons Unit.
Multiple gunshots fired at Lower Valley apartment complex
About 8:45 p.m., June 25: Mission Valley patrol officers responded to a call of shots fired at the Cien Palmas Apartments, 7845 Lilac Way. While officers were enroute, a caller across the street at the Western Gallagher Apartments reported that her brother, Marquez, had been shot, affidavits stated.
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Security camera video obtained by investigators showed a white Jeep Renegade parked at the Cien Palmas Apartments, the affidavits stated.
The video allegedly shows Acosta and another female approach the passenger side of the Jeep shortly before three males wearing red, black and gray hoodies rush the vehicle from both sides. Two of the males appear to be armed, the affidavits stated.
“The shooting begins almost immediately when the males approach the vehicle,” an affidavit stated.
The video shows multiple shots are fired into the Jeep, hitting the passenger (Lopez) and the driver and Marquez who is hit in the crossfire, detectives stated in the affidavits. After the initial shooting, the would-be robbers ran off.
Despite having been shot, the driver was able to drive away. As the Jeep exits the apartment complex onto the street, two shooters fire a second volley at the fleeing vehicle, the affidavit stated.
“This act posed a continued threat to the lives of the victims and created an extreme danger to others in the vicinity,” a detective stated in an affidavit.
Teens’ armed robbery plan goes wrong
The driver of the Jeep drove Lopez to Del Sol Medical Center, where Lopez died of the gunshot wounds he sustained, the affidavit stated. The condition of the driver was not disclosed.
When questioned by detectives, Acosta and Marquez both allegedly confessed, telling investigators that the plan was to rob the victim of money because they needed money for rent, the affidavits stated. Acosta was staying at an apartment rented by Marquez and his girlfriend.
The group came up with a plan to lure Lopez to rob him. Acosta allegedly told detectives that she contacted Lopez via Instagram Messenger, posing as a buyer wanting to purchase THC cartridges.
El Paso police patrol car. File art.
When questioned, Marquez first told investigators that the shooting occurred because the people in the Jeep were “mad dogging him and his group.” But he later allegedly confessed that the plan was to rob the victims of their money because they needed money for the rent.
“As soon as I got to the car, we were like give me the money,” Marquez allegedly told detectives.
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The plan was to rob Lopez, not to shoot him, Marquez and Acosta, allegedly told investigators, according to affidavits. But the gunfire began almost immediately during the robbery confrontation.
Acosta was booked on charges of capital murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She remains held on a $600,000 bond at the El Paso County Jail Annex.
Marquez also faces the same charges as Acosta but is incarcerated at the El Paso County Jail Annex without bond because of a probation violation on a case of deadly conduct discharge of a firearm from last year, court and jail records show.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso teens face capital murder case in drug-deal robbery shooting