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Inset: (Metropolitan Detention Center). Background: Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, investigate after Vallejos allegedly killed his mother (KRQE).
Leroy Felix Vallejos, aged 49, is charged with murder and evidence tampering following the death of his 69-year-old mother, Ernestina Lucero, in Albuquerque, according to court documents.
The disappearance of Lucero was reported by another family member on October 23, as detailed in a criminal complaint accessed by CBS affiliate KRQE. Police revealed that Vallejos had contacted his mother’s home health care provider requesting payment, despite claiming not to have seen her for more than a week.
Authorities performed a welfare check at Lucero’s residence on Tuesday, located in the 300 block of Rhode Island Street NE. When Vallejos, who also resided there, allowed officers inside, he mentioned that his mother had gone to Mexico on vacation with her boyfriend. However, suspicions arose when police discovered her medication still in the bathroom.
Officers conducted a welfare check on Tuesday at Lucero’s home in the 300 block of Rhode Island Street NE. Vallejos, who also lived at the home, opened the door and allowed cops to search the house. He claimed she had left on vacation for Mexico with her boyfriend but cops became suspicious when they found her medication in the bathroom.
Then, they looked inside a large freezer and found garbage bags. In those bags were suspected female human remains, cops say. A further search of the home reportedly yielded blood stains under the sink. Detectives took Vallejos into custody and in an interview he allegedly admitted to choking his mom to death some three weeks prior. He reportedly said Lucero was conspiring against him with others and she was part of a “group of people giving their lives to darkness.”
Cops determined Vallejos had allegedly withdrawn cash from his mother’s bank account and sold her car before she was reported missing.
Vallejos was arrested on Wednesday and is currently in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center without bond.
