Mora pleads no contest to first-degree murder

RIO RANCHO — A young man pleaded no contest to murder Jan. 20, but the question of if he will be sentenced as an adult remains.

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Joshua Mora, now 19, of Rio Rancho, was arrested in April 2024 for the first-degree murder of  Heather Nichole Lamb, 44, of Albuquerque, and tampering with evidence.

Now, according to a plea and disposition agreement between the prosecution and defense, they requested Mora be sentenced as an adult for only the first-degree murder charge.

The agreement is that he will have a total exposure of 30 years with parties arguing a range of zero to 18 years at initial sentencing with a suspended balance in prison.

The parties state they agree that the charge shall be treated as a serious violent offense with the caveat that Mora be eligible to earn meritorious good time of four days per month. After Mora is released from custody, he will be placed on supervised probation for five years.

Mora has also agreed to pay restitution determined by probation.

Mora, who was 17 at the time of the murder, was accused of stabbing Lamb and leaving her half-naked in the 1700 block of Riverside Drive in Rio Rancho. She was alive when she was found by nearby  residents but later died.

Police found several items at the Riverside scene with blood and semen on them. They also found tire tracks where the alleged vehicle was parked as well as  a receipt from Jack in the Box, which allowed them to track Mora's vehicle from the restaurant's surveillance footage.

Police confirmed with Lamb's family and friends that she had been using a dating service called "Skip the Games" after her divorce. They said the day she died she told them she was going on a "mission" to Rio Rancho. They tried calling her throughout the night with no response.

Mora was later arrested at the Champion Car Wash on the corner of Northern Boulevard and NM 528, where police caught him cleaning out bloodied items.

The plea was entered just a few weeks before Mora's scheduled trial..