Suspect found innocent of first-degree murder in Portales shooting

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Erik Pina, right, stands with his lawyer, Randall Harris, Tuesday afternoon as Judge Stephen Quinn reads the jury’s verdict during Pina’s trial for the 2011 shooting death of Jose Montoya. The jury found Pina not guilty of first-degree murder, but convicted him of eight other charges, including aggravated burglary, armed robbery, and possession of stolen property.

After a day of deliberations, a Roosevelt County jury on Tuesday found Erik Pina innocent of first-degree murder in connection with the 2011 shooting death of Jose Montoya.

Pina, 19, was convicted of eight other charges in connection with the crime, including armed robbery, conspiracy to commit burglary, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, and possession of a stolen firearm.

Pina was accused of shooting Jose Montoya in the head at Montoya’s home in 2011 and stealing his vehicle, a custom 1998 Isuzu Rodeo, which was later found gutted and burned on the side of the Arch highway.

Iram Ivarbol, Montoya’s brother-in-law, said he and the Montoya family are satisfied with the jury’s decision.

Ivarbol’s son, Christian Ivarbol, translated for him.

“We’re satisfied with what happened today,” Iram Ivarbol said. “We were really involved with the lawyers in the case and think they did a good job during the trial.”

Ivarbol said he was sad that the relationship between his family and Pina’s was ended by the actions of Pina and two co-defendants in the case.

“Our families were close. We would go to church together,” Ivarbol said.

He said the family will be waiting to hear Pina’s sentence.

“It’s sad that these young people were involved in such a bad act,” Ivarbol said.

Nancy Pina, Erik Pina’s sister, said her brother had the chance to go to Mexico before he was arrested and didn’t go because he wanted to prove his innocence.

“We’ve been fighting for my brother’s innocence for four years,” Pina said. “He was a child sitting in jail for four years, accused of a murder he didn’t do.”

She said it was unfair to her brother when the prosecution portrayed him as a man and not the child he was when the shooting happened. Pina was 16 when Montoya was killed.

“He was forced to become a man. Jail changes you. He was in jail with older people and he was forced to mature,” Pina said of her brother’s demeanor during the trial.

“The only mistake he made was believing in the justice system and he lost four years of his life in jail,” Pina said.

Pina said she blamed her brother’s four years in jail on a “terrible” law enforcement investigation. Pina cited police failure to send items stolen from Montoya’s vehicle to a crime lab.

“I wish the police had done a better job,” Pina said. “I’m sorry for the victim’s family.”

Pina’s ex-girlfriend, Genesis Gallegos, said she has been with the Pina family during the four years since Pina was charged and is relieved that the jury did not convict Pina of murder.

“It was a great day,” Gallegos said. “He was not the person behind that gun.”

“I don’t know who the killer is, but the innocent should not be sent to jail,” Gallegos said.

Pina will go through a 15-day diagnostic evaluation at the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center in Albuquerque before a hearing is scheduled for sentencing.

Two other men were convicted in the case. Alonso Quinonez, 24, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2013 for his part in Montoya’s death.

Alberto Ramirez, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty as a juvenile and was sentenced to two years at a juvenile facility. He has been given credit for his time served in jail and was released.

Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover said Pina will begin the diagnostic process as soon as a bed becomes available at the facility.

Stover said it will be up to District Court Judge Stephen Quinn to decide whether Pina is amenable to treatment as a juvenile or to sentence him as an adult. He said until the decision to sentence Pina as an adult or a juvenile, he cannot speculate on the maximum sentence he may receive.

Stover said he believed the state made the best case it could have, despite shortcomings in the initial investigation.

“We wanted the investigation to have been done better, but it was years ago,” Stover said. “We did the best we could do with what we had.”

Stover said it could be months before Pina’s sentencing hearing is held due to Quinn’s busy schedule.