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Alleged Road Rage on New Mexico Highway Leaves Child Dead and Man in Jail
An apparent road rage incident on an interstate highway in Albuquerque, New Mexico, escalated to a shooting that killed a 4-year-old girl. A suspect in the shooting was arrested the following day and remains in custody on a litany of charges and a $650,000 cash only bond.
Tony D. Torrez, 32, was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly confessing to a friend that he shot 4-year-old Illiana “Lilly” Rose Garcia during an apparent road rage incident with the girl’s father, according to a CNN report. Lilly was riding in the back seat of her father’s pickup truck after being picked up from school. Somewhere along IH-40 the drivers of the vehicles were said by police to have entered into a road rage altercation over someone being cut off of the roadway.
Alan Garcia, Lilly’s father, told police he was driving with his son Issac, 7, and Lilly after picking them up from school. The vehicle he would later learn was driven by Torrez crossed two lanes of traffic and block his exit from the highway. He said he gestured Torrez and called him a “F**king idiot, according to court records reported by CNN.
At that point, gunfire reportedly erupted from Torrez’s car. As Garcia sped up to get away he heard two shots hitting his vehicle. One of those shots struck Lilly in the head. Garcia heard the haunting words from his son Issac, “She’s bleeding.” Garcia stopped to help his dying daughter, but not before Torrez reportedly fired two more shots.
She would later be pronounced dead at the hospital. Lilly was helped at the scene by two nurses who happened by.
Torrez allegedly told a friend he shot the little girl. The friend called a tip line that had been established by police to help track down Lilly’s killer. Police Chief Gorden Eden said that when police arrested Torrez, he “confessed” to the shooting, CNN reported.
“To have your child in your hands in such circumstances is going to live with the father for the rest of his life,” Eden told reporters.
Breitbart Texas contacted Albuquerque Police Department public information officer Tanner Trixier to inquire about information relating to Torrez identification. CNN had reported a conflict in Torrez’s driver’s license and vehicle registration. When asked about Torrez citizenship/nationality/immigration status, Trixier seemed offended by the question. He said it is not the job of his department to identify that information about a suspect. He said that the fact that Torrez had a New Mexico driver’s license was not a factor in determining if he was a citizen or immigrant. He said anyone can get a license in New Mexico and their immigration status is of no consequence. “We don’t check,” Trixier said about the suspect’s nationality.
Torrez has been charged with an open count of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault with the intent to commit a violent felony, shooting at or from a vehicle, child abuse leading to death or grievous bodily harm, and tampering with evidence, according to records obtained by Breitbart Texas from the Bernalillo County Detention Center’s inmate information system. He is being held on a cash only bond of $650,000.
