Roswell police arrest 4 for alleged beating and shooting death

ROSWELL, N.M. — Police arrested four people in connection with the alleged beating and shooting death of a man last week in Roswell.

Roswell police officers responded Oct. 21 around 10:45 p.m. to the intersection of East Third Street and Orchard Avenue to a man lying on Orchard, just south of Third. They found him with a gunshot wound to his abdomen/chest area and other injuries.

First responders took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. They identified the man as 46-year-old Joseph Riley Russell.

Investigators believe Russell and 48-year-old Robert Garcia got into a dispute about a vehicle. Then, on the night of Russell’s death, they say Garcia threw rocks at Russell before his son, Perry Garcia, beat Russell. They accuse Perry Garcia of striking Russell with a blunt object before 31-year-old Teresa Carrillo shot Russell.

According to police, Carrillo allegedly gave the gun to Robert Garcia, who gave it to Cruizito Garcia-Valenzuela to remove it from the scene. However, police later found that gun.

A day after Russell’s death, on Oct. 22, police arrested Garcia-Valenzuela for tampering with evidence and felon in possession of a firearm. Officers arrested him while executing a search warrant at a residence in the 700 block of East Third Street. Two days later, they arrested Carrillo and Perry Garcia, each for second-degree murder, during a traffic stop.

Police also arrested Robert Garcia at a home in the 300 block of East Bland Street. He faces a charge of tampering with evidence.