Cops probe other attacks after transients are killed

Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Three teenagers accused of fatally beating two homeless men beyond recognition with cinder blocks, bricks and a metal fence pole may have been terrorizing transients around Albuquerque for months, police said Monday.

A man who identified himself as the father of two of the boys said they were once homeless themselves and he had no idea what prompted the beatings. One of the boys told police they had attacked about 50 homeless people over the past few months but had never gone that far. But Friday night, he was angry about breaking up with his girlfriend, he said.

Alex Rios, 18, and two boys age 16 and 15 were ordered held on $5 million bond each during initial court appearances Monday.

They face murder charges stemming from the brutal attack in an Albuquerque lot where neighbors say transients regularly camped at night.

After their arrest, the 15-year-old also told police that the trio had been targeting homeless people for the past year, according to a criminal complaint.

Prosecutors requested bonds of just $1 million, but Metropolitan Court Judge Linda Rogers set it higher, citing the gravity of the purported crimes and the suspects’ potential to flee. The district attorney’s office said the younger suspects were charged as serious youthful offenders, meaning they could be tried in adult court.

The two younger defendants, one wiping away tears, sat in the courtroom while Rios made his appearance by closed-circuit video from the county jail.