Trial begins in 2019 killing at a Central Avenue motel
Vicente Rivera, right, speaks with a member of his defense team.
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Testimony began Monday in the trial of a man who prosecutors say fatally shot 43-year-old Leroy Zamora at a Central Avenue motel in 2019.
Vicente Rivera, 35, is charged with first-degree murder and other charges in Zamora鈥檚 shooting death at the Crossroads Motel near Central and Interstate 25.
Both prosecution and defense attorneys told jurors on Monday that the trial was likely to leave questions unanswered about Zamora鈥檚 death .
鈥淭he reality is, in this case, there might be some unanswered questions and that鈥檚 simply because the only individual who could answer them is deceased,鈥� Assistant District Attorney Klarice Medina said in opening statements.
鈥淟eroy (Zamora) had his struggles,鈥� Medina told jurors. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 want that to distract you from the reason that we鈥檙e here, and that reason is to prove, again, that Vicente Rivera murdered Leroy Zamora.鈥�
Zamora鈥檚 longtime partner testified Monday that Zamora鈥檚 heroin use prompted her to kick him out of her home less than a week before he was killed.
Rivera鈥檚 attorney, Richard Pugh, told jurors that prosecutors would not be able to show who killed Zamora, or why.
鈥淵ou will never know why Leroy Zamora was shot, period,鈥� Pugh said Monday in opening statements. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e never going to know the circumstances of the shooting or who shot Leroy Zamora.鈥�
Zamora鈥檚 partner, Brianna Pinzon, told jurors that she had known Zamora since childhood and the two had a child together. She described Zamora as a good father. 鈥淗e was a great fianc茅 to me,鈥� she said.
She forced Zamora to leave her home after he left a used syringe in a place in their home where their son found it.
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police were dispatched to the Crossroads Motel at about 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2019, where they found that Zamora with a gunshot wound. He later died at University of New Mexico Hospital.
A police spokesman said days after the killing that police had 鈥渓imited offender information鈥� at the time.
Pinzon told an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 reporter then that a stranger called her the day after Zamora鈥檚 killing and said he had found Zamora鈥檚 wallet with Pinzon鈥檚 phone number inside.
Pinzon told the reporter she didn鈥檛 know who her partner was with or what he was doing when he was shot.
Prosecutors showed jurors the contents of Zamora鈥檚 wallet, which contained the note written by Pinzon listing her phone number to call 鈥渋n case of emergency.鈥�
Pinzon also testified that Zamora was eager to return to her home in the days prior to his death because he believed his life was in danger and that he had been shot and injured several months before he was killed.
