Murder charges added in double shooting case

Marcos R. Ruiz, 40, was arrested Aug. 4 and booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center after Marcos “Mark” Carrillo, 42, was found dead from a gunshot at Ruiz’s home. About a half hour before, Gilbert Montoya, 39, had been taken to Alta Vista Regional Hospital with three gunshot wounds.

Police initially charged Ruiz with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, but on Tuesday, District Attorney Richard Flores announced that an open count of murder had been filed against Ruiz in connection with Carrillo’s death.

“The Las Vegas Police Department and New Mexico State Police, working together, filed an Amended Criminal Complaint and Affidavit for Arrest Warrant against Ruiz,” Flores wrote in an email statement to the Optic. “Ruiz was immediately arrested and is currently in the San Miguel County jail.”

According to the amended arrest warrant filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court, New Mexico State Police interviewed Montoya on Aug. 26. Montoya told police that the night he was shot, his wife had dropped him off at a cousin’s home when a car driven by Rhonda A. Greenier drove up to the residence. Ruiz was a passenger in the vehicle, and according to Montoya, Ruiz was upset that no one wanted to “hang out.”

Montoya told police he got into the vehicle with Ruiz, and that Greenier drove them to Ruiz’s home in the 600 block of Union Street. Montoya said he noticed that Ruiz had a firearm as they exited the vehicle.

At Ruiz’s home, Montoya used the restroom. He told police that when he exited, he saw Ruiz and Carrillo “wrestling on the couch,” and that Ruiz had a gun in his hand. Police reports do not state when Carrillo arrived at the home on Union Street.

Montoya said he attempted to run out a back door, but it was locked. That’s when he heard a gunshot. Montoya told police Ruiz then called for him, and when Montoya turned around, he saw three flashes and knew he’d been shot. Montoya ran out a side door in another room, fearing Ruiz would follow him.

Greenier, 44, was later arrested following a search of her vehicle. She was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance after police located a white powder that tested positive for cocaine. She has since been released from SMCDC. Greenier has not been charged in connection with the shooting of Montoya or the death of Carrillo.

In a pretrial detention motion filled in San Miguel Magistrate Court on Tuesday, prosecutors called Ruiz “a danger to the community.”

Citing Ruiz’s lengthy criminal history — including a guilty plea of voluntary manslaughter in a March 2000 case — and a “willingness/propensity to flee law enforcement,” prosecutors asked the court to keep Ruiz in custody until his trial.

Ruiz remained in SMCDC as of this writing. A trial date has not yet been set, but Ruiz is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Sept. 10 for a preliminary hearing.