He was 15 years old when he killed a mother in front of her 2-year-old daughter, killed another woman, and hurt a man in a robbery. Now that he is 19, he knows what will happen to him.
In a news release, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said that Josef Toney was given a 45-year prison sentence with the possibility of probation after 38 years. Toney was found guilty in the deaths of Aerial Mallam, 21, and Jessica Casaus Lucero, 31.
The killings took place at the Aztec Village homes in Albuquerque on the night of January 27, 2021. He killed Lucero and then shot Mallam while her 2-year-old daughter watched.
Authorities say that as Toney was running away, he shot and hurt Mallam’s uncle. Then, the attacker got into a gunfight with a fourth person who was trying to steal a car.
During that gunfight, Toney was shot, but he was able to get away. Toney was caught by police in Denver more than nine months later.
Mallam’s uncle went to court to ask the judge to give the person the harshest sentence possible.
A local CBS and Fox station, KRQE, reported that he said, “The guy sitting in the defendant’s chair wasn’t a kid shooting at me.” “That person knew what the hell they were doing.” I have no doubt that he knew what he was doing.
Jessica Lucero’s mother, Margaret Lucero, couldn’t believe it.
“How in the world are we going to tell our grandchildren this?” “That’s not possible,” she said, according to KOB, a local NBC station.
Jess Lucero’s sister Shantelle Rojo said, “My sister was shot in the head, so we had to cremate her. I never got to see her face because they said it would be too hard for me to see.” “The best I could do was say goodbye to a body bag full of dead bodies.”
KOB said that Toney said sorry.
“At first, you guys got it right.” That’s why I said I was sorry because I got caught. “Yes, it was,” Toney told the news source. “I had to learn a lot about real-life events over a long period of time.” Just like reading real-life books and watching the news to really understand how valuable life is.
In April, Toney said he was guilty in the case.
A month later, he got away from an Albuquerque juvenile prison, which changed the course of the case.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said he turned himself in the next day after being caught on camera opening a gate.
The death notice for Lucero said she had three children. The person who had lived in New Mexico her whole life moved to Albuquerque to go to college and reach her final goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist, according to her obituary.
“Her life was full of color,” the biography said. “She was honest, loving, kind, and devoted.” Her attitude was contagious, and so was her smile.
