‘They’re mad, and they’re showing more violence’: Neighbors describe area where mother and son committed alleged murder

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A local mother, Kristina Withrow, and her son, 18-year-old Kristian Crespin, are in jail Wednesday night for their alleged roles in murdering a woman near their family apartment Monday. 

Investigators say Kristina Withrow was getting “frustrated” with people coming around the alley near their home. Withrow got into an argument with a woman who said she was “just getting a laundry basket.” 

Withrow told police she got scared, got her gun, but did not trust herself because “she is not a good shot.” 

Investigators say she passed the gun to her son – Kristian Crespin – and told him to “put one next to her.” Crespin fired three shots. Investigators say at least one hit the woman, and she died.

Crespin left the scene while Withrow picked up the bullet casings. Police arrested Crespin the next day. 

“For a mother to go ahead and give a gun to give permission to take someone’s life is just unforgivable, it’s unforgivable. She not only took away someone else’s life, but she threw her own child’s life away by committing this crime,” commented New Mexico Crusaders for Justice Co-founder Alicia Otero. 

Pastor Joanne Landry runs the Compassion Services Center for the homeless about a mile away. She says this crime represents the reality of the neighborhood. 

“The gentleman right directly across the street came out a while ago with a gun, and he told them ‘You guys need to get off my street right now, I’m tired of you,'” said Landry. 

 “I’m getting threatened by community members or by some of the criminals in the community that do not like them. I’ve been shot at, I have the casing, there were six of them that were shot at the church and at the compassion center,” said Landry. “They don’t realize if I wasn’t here we’d have them all up and down our sidewalks, down our streets, I would be calling the police. Homelessness is not going away, I’m still seeing popping up brand new faces every single day.”

The state filed to keep Withrow in jail until trial, which the judge ruled in favor of April 7.

Crespin faced a judge for the first time April 6.