Man previously acquitted in homicide trial arrested on new charges
A Las Vegas man once acquitted of first-degree murder has been charged with multiple felonies for allegedly attacking a man with a gun. Weeks later, the man he’s accused of attacking was charged with multiple felonies in a separate incident.
Eric L. Vigil, now 38, was acquitted on two counts of first-degree murder during a September 2013 trial. Vigil had been accused of being involved in the 2007 shooting deaths of two New Mexico Highlands University students.
Las Vegas Police now accuse Vigil of choking, beating and pointing a gun at Donald J. Abreu, 21, of Las Vegas. Police also allege Vigil was aided by 29-year-old Alexiaray M. Archuleta, of Las Vegas, according to court documents.
Charges were filed against Vigil and Archuleta on May 5. Archuleta was arrested that night, and an arrest warrant was issued for Vigil, who was arrested May 19.
LVPD was called to a motel in the 1100 block of Grand Avenue on May 5 after someone reported a man being held at gunpoint.
Prior to arriving at the motel, police learned the alleged suspects had left in an SUV, which LVPD officers located and pulled over near Grand Avenue and Mills Avenue.
During the traffic stop, Vigil exited the SUV and ran from officers, according to an arrest affidavit filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court. Police located Archuleta in the backseat. She was detained, but refused to answer questions, according to police.
The driver of the SUV, who is not facing any charges, told police he’d been helping a friend move at the motel on Grand when he and his girlfriend heard someone screaming for help.
He drove his girlfriend to a nearby Allsup’s so she could call police, and then returned to the motel. As he pulled into the parking lot, he saw Archuleta holding a 12-gauge shotgun and a black handgun, according to the affidavit.
Inside the room, he saw Vigil choking a man, later identified as Abreu, from behind. When he told Vigil that police were on the way, Vigil released the choke hold, he said.
Vigil and Archuleta got into the SUV with him — with Vigil in the passenger seat and Archuleta in the backseat. The man told police he didn’t ask questions because the two were armed, and that as they were driving away from the motel, Vigil said he was going to use the handgun against police, according to the affidavit.
Abreu was transported to Alta Vista Regional Hospital where he was checked for injuries. He told investigators he lived in one of the rooms at the motel, and that Vigil — a man he knew as “Scare Bear” — walked into his room uninvited while Archuleta stood in the doorway.
Vigil was upset about a previous argument the two had, and Abreu believed Vigil was armed, he told police. When Vigil reached for something in his waistband, Abreu reached for a shotgun he kept in the room.
Vigil rushed him and pulled out the handgun, Abreu told investigators. As they fought for the shotgun, Archuleta began biting him on his forehead and neck, Abreu told police.
Archuleta and Vigil wrestled the shotgun away from him and began striking him in the face and head.
Abreu estimated being struck 20 times before Vigil got behind him and began to choke him, according to the affidavit.
Police arrested Archuleta and booked her into the San Miguel County Detention Center. Vigil was arrested two weeks later and booked into SMCDC.
Three weeks after the altercation at the motel, charges were filed against Abreu in a separate incident, and an arrest warrant was issued.
LVPD was called to a home in the 1000 block of Second Street on May 26 after a man, a woman and her infant child returned home to find a vehicle blocking their driveway.
The woman asked a neighbor about the vehicle, and the neighbor said the vehicle belonged to Abreu.
Abreu exited the residence and began shouting at them, according to an arrest affidavit filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court. He then pulled a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at them.
The woman ran inside with the child as Abreu fired a shot. Abreu again pointed the gun at the man as he shouted, “I’ll f—— kill you,” before firing two more shots, according to the affidavit.
The neighbor who’d allowed Abreu to park the vehicle told police she saw Abreu pull out a black handgun and fire shots into the air, but she didn’t think it sounded “like a real gun,” and said it might have been a pellet gun, according to the affidavit.
Officers did not locate any bullet casings in the area, nor did they find any bullet holes or damage to vehicles or homes. Inside Abreu’s vehicle, police located a carbon dioxide cartridge commonly used to power air guns.
As of this writing, Abreu had not been arrested. He is charged with felony child abuse not resulting in death, two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor negligent use of a deadly weapon.
Vigil and Archuleta are both charged with four felonies: armed aggravated burglary, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
During a May 6 hearing, bond for Archuleta was set at $10,000 by Judge Melanie Rivera. Archuleta’s bond was reduced to a $10,000 unsecured appearance bond by Judge Rivera at a May 12 review hearing, and she was released from SMCDC.
Archuleta is scheduled to appear in Magistrate Court June 23 for a preliminary hearing.
At a May 20 hearing, Judge Christian Montaño released Vigil on a $10,000 unsecured appearance bond. Vigil is scheduled to appear in Magistrate Court June 18 for a preliminary hearing.
In January 2012, Vigil was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 25-year-old Stephanie Dimas and 24-year-old Damian Ortiz, NMHU students who were found dead of gunshot wounds in their home a few days before Christmas in 2007.
Years later, in August 2012, Michael “Baby Diablo” Vigal accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to both murders. Vigal is now 32 and is serving a 30-year sentence at the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe.
Vigal’s guilty plea aside, prosecutors alleged Vigil was one of the shooters that night in 2007. Vigil went on trial in September 2013, charged with two counts of first-degree murder and four other felony charges related to the 2007 deaths, but a jury unanimously found Vigil not guilty on all counts.