Judge hands down 36-year sentence in double killing

Three teens arrested in January double homicide

Three teens are facing multiple charges, including murder, in relation to the January homicides of two brothers in southwest Albuquerque. One of the suspects, Mario Lange, 17, was arrested Feb. 1 in the Rivers Edge neighborhood of Rio Rancho — putting the neighborhood on lockdown — on unrelated charges and has been in custody at […]

A judge on Wednesday sentenced 18-year-old Mario Lange to 36 years in prison in the 2023 shooting deaths of two teenage brothers.

Lange was one of three youths — all 17 at the time — arrested in the killings of Matthew Lopez, 15, and Gabriel Lopez, 14, during what the brothers believed was a marijuana purchase at an Albuquerque mobile home park.

Lange was arrested Feb. 1, 2023, on unrelated charges in the Rivers Edge neighborhood of Rio Rancho, putting the neighborhood on lockdown. The murder charge was added in April 2023, when the other two teens were arrested.

Lange pleaded guilty March 28 to one count each of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and conspiracy and faced a sentencing range of 20 to 36 years in prison, according to the plea agreement filed in 2nd Judicial District Court.

Judge Cindy Leos sentenced Lange to the maximum sentence allowed under the plea deal, according to a statement issued by the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

At his sentencing hearing Wednesday, Leos said the case was among the worst juvenile killings she had presided over and she believed rehabilitation was not a realistic option for Lange, the statement said.

Lange’s attorney, Ramona Martinez, did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

On Jan. 27, 2023, Gabriel Lopez called 911 and reported that he had been shot, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a mobile home park in the 200 block of Atrico Vista SW, where they found Matthew Lopez fatally shot and Gabriel Lopez injured near the mobile home park’s leasing office. Gabriel Lopez later died at a hospital.

Security video showed that the brothers arrived by car and parked beside a Kia sedan, the complaint said. Matthew Lopez approached the Kia before an occupant of the car shot him repeatedly, it said.

The Kia sedan sped away but returned moments later. Lange and a woman, identified by deputies as Marissa Lopez, walked up to Matthew Lopez with a flashlight when Lange noticed Gabriel Lopez inside the car and shot him. The pair rummaged through the car and left.

Marissa Lopez, 18, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy in the brothers’ killings. Court records do not indicate whether Marissa Lopez is related to the Lopez brothers.

Marissa Lopez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. A trial has not been scheduled in her case.

Charges against a second co-defendant, Querida Lovato, 18, were dismissed by the District Attorney’s Office in April, court records show.

After his arrest, Lange told deputies that Marissa Lopez had wanted to take revenge on the brothers because she believed they had stolen a gun from a friend of hers, according to the compliant.

Lange also told deputies that Marissa Lopez had lured the brothers by asking to buy marijuana from them, the complaint said.