ALBUQUERQUE, TX - A man in his twenties is in police custody after allegedly shooting his cousin to death following an argument over whose enchiladas were spicier.
The alleged suspect, 22-year-old Ervin Joaquin Gutierrez, is charged with an open count of murder, according to online records for the Metropolitan Detention Center viewed by PEOPLE. He was arrested on Saturday, August 29, and remains in custody.
Gutierrez allegedly shot and killed his 25-year-old cousin, Nathaniel Cavazos, after the two had been drinking and cooking green chile enchiladas with other family members on the night of August 27. A witness, who identified himself as a cousin of both men, told investigators that things got tense between the victim and Gutierrez after the two argued in an Albuquerque apartment complex over who cooked the spicier enchiladas.
Gutierrez drove from Roswell to Albuquerque to fix the meal with his family, according to court documents. The verbal disagreement about the enchiladas allegedly led to a physical altercation.
"We’re family! We’re family! How could you do this to me?” Gutierrez said before shooting Cavazos in his back between three and four times as he tried to walk away, according to a witness statement. The two were standing about 10 feet apart. Gutierrez allegedly fled the scene before responding officers arrived shortly before 11:00 p.m. Cavazos died at the scene.
Gutierrez reportedly reached out to family members via Snapchat asking, "Is he really dead?" claiming Cavazos threatened him first. "I did not want to kill him but I didn't want him to kill me," Gutierrez allegedly said on Snapchat.
A vigil was held for the 25-year-old, who lived and worked at the Copper Hills Apartments in northeast Albuquerque. "It’s sad. It’s very sad that such a kind person was taken due to violence, and just—it’s just something that you just don’t really think that could happen, and especially so close to home,” a neighbor, identified only as Savannah, said at the vigil.
"You needed help, he would help every single person around here from our other residents to our disabled residents to helping them walk downstairs,” another neighbor, whose identity was not provided, shared. Cavazos' family was present at the vigil, but said they were not ready to speak on camera yet. His relatives want the 25-year-old to be remembered as someone who laughed a lot and loved making others smile.
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