CHAMITA, N.M. – A man and his adult son have been arrested on charges stemming from a March 11 shooting in which one person was killed and three others wounded during a drug-related encounter in a rural area of northern New Mexico, the New Mexico State Police said .
Andrew Valdez, 50, of Chamita was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and Mario Valdez, 31, of Española was charged with first-degree murder and numerous other crimes, the State Police said in a statement.
The State Police said law enforcement officers responding to a shots-fired report found Fernando Martinez, 35, of Española dead in the rear seat of an SUV and three other people wounded nearby. Two additional people who had been in the SUV weren’t injured.
Investigators learned that the victims went to the home of Andrew Valdez to buy methamphetamine and that Mario Valdez fired a rifle at the departing SUV after his father assaulted two of the people with a knife.
Online court records did not list attorneys for the father and son who might comment on their behalf.
