Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Lucario Balboa
A Clovis man identified as the cousin of a November homicide victim on Thursday was charged with multiple felonies in connection with the case.
Lucario Balboa, 32, was with his cousin, Marcos Ramirez, 26, when police said Ramirez went to the Hilltop Plaza Shopping Center to try and sell a gun.
During the transaction, Ramirez was shot and killed by one of the teenage boys trying to buy the gun, police said. Balboa witnessed the shooting and returned fire toward the boys, police said.
Two of the boys were shot, records show; both have been treated and released from hospitals.
Balboa is charged with receipt, transportation or possession of a firearm by a felon, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
He was being held without bond Friday morning in the Curry County Adult Detention Center.
The incident occurred Nov. 13. All four of the boys in the car are charged with murder in the case, though police have said they're not sure which one fired the gun that killed Ramirez.
Two of the boys have been charged as adults in the case and prosecutors plan to seek adult sanctions against a third. The fourth boy, who was shot in the neck during the incident, will be tried as a juvenile, Assistant District Attorney Jake Boazman said last week.
Boazman declined to say why adult sanctions will not be sought against the fourth boy who is still recovering from his wounds at his grandparents' home. The other three boys are in juvenile detention facilities awaiting trial, Boazman said.
Court records show Balboa watched as his cousin left their vehicle and climbed into the back of the car where the boys were. He was watching when Ramirez was shot and pushed out of the boys' car onto the pavement of the parking lot. That's when Balboa began firing at the boys, records show.
Boazman said Friday Balboa was not initially charged because officials wanted "to continue investigating his role." Investigators still have not determined who actually shot the boys because ballistics tests are not complete.
Balboa's attorney, Tye Harmon of Clovis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
