An Artesia man this month pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the May 22, 2020, shooting death of a Roswell man. He was sentenced to 15 years plus a firearm enhancement of one year. Of the total 16 years, four years were suspended, leaving a final prison term of 12 years.
Tyler Aaron Kelley, 24, entered his plea Sept. 9 in District Court as part of a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office. Kelley fatally shot Marcelleno Briseno, 19, during an altercation outside a house in the 300 block of East Jefferson Street during which another man was injured by a gunshot Kelley fired. Under the plea agreement, an original charge of first-degree murder was reduced to second-degree murder. In addition, charges of aggravated battery and tampering with evidence were dismissed by the prosecution.
Following his prison term, Kelley, who was taken into custody by RPD the same night the shooting occurred, will be on parole for two years and on supervised probation for four years.
In another sentencing that took place earlier this year, a Roswell teenager who pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter was committed to the custody of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department for a period not to exceed two years.
The male teen, who was 16 at the time of the crime and is now 18, fatally shot Allsup’s store employee Michael Crabtree, 36, on July 7, 2020, during an incident in which Crabtree was confronting a suspected shoplifter and another man with him outside the Roswell store at South Sunset Avenue and West Poe Street. The teen, who had come to the store with the two men, shot Crabtree after Crabtree allegedly pulled out a knife.
The original charges against the teen, who was arrested by RPD later the day of the shooting, were second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and unlawful carrying of a handgun by a person under the age of 19.
Original source can be found here.
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