Nov. 12 — A fatal shooting on the city’s south side over the weekend was the result of a gun deal gone wrong, a witness told Santa Fe police in recent court documents.

Police arrested 24-year-old Antonio Montejano Monday night in Española and charged him with first-degree murder in the killing of 44-year-old Rosendo Romero.

A witness told investigators that Romero was shot and killed after Montejano fell in with the victim’s plan to swindle him out of money in an alleged gun deal, according to an affidavit filed Monday in Santa Fe County District Court.

Romero had already taken Montejano’s money for an “AR rifle” he had promised him, the witness told police, but Romero planned to keep Montejano’s money without turning over the gun.

The witness said that while the two men and several others were “doing drugs on the couch” at a mobile home on Camino Tierra Real late Saturday night, Romero conspired to have someone break the back window of the pickup truck his and pull the gun out to make it look like it was stolen from his vehicle, police wrote.

When Romero told Montejano about the alleged theft, however, Montejano seemed “really mad,” as if he knew Romero was lying to him, the witness told officers. The two were inside discussing it, and Romero came out of the mobile home, telling Montejano he was going to drive someone home and then come back, they said.

According to the witness statement, Montejano came out of the house wielding a handgun and shot Romero as he walked to his truck. The witness told police Romero then ran toward the entrance to the mobile home park, but was hit by Montejano’s fire and fell to the ground.

Police wrote that the witness confirmed Montejano’s picture in a series of photos.

City police had previously investigated Montejano for suspected drug trafficking, according to the affidavit. One officer wrote that he set up “controlled buys” of illegal drugs from Montejano in 2023 as part of a larger narcotics investigation.

A Facebook profile with the name “Trigga Happi” that appears to belong to Montejano was advertising the sale of cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamines, fentanyl and heroin in group chats as early as Friday, police wrote.

The account has posted photos of Montejano in recent years, including several of him holding a handgun. The account indicates that Montejano attended Santa Fe High School and “works at GLOCK.”

A photo posted by the account in recent months shows Montejano holding two large, clear bags of what appear to be magic mushrooms with the caption “please ya orders” along with an arrow pointing to a phone emoji. Another photo, posted on April 12, shows a bouquet of dahlias and roses standing in front of a photo of the late Raul René Montejano Jr. with the caption “I love you brother”.

Montejano is the brother of Raul Montejano, Jr., a man who was shot and killed in June 2023 during a dispute on the city’s South Side.

Police arrested Montejano Monday night at a Days Inn motel in Española, where Nikki Marie Jo Mascareñas’ girlfriend’s car was parked in the parking lot.

Mascareñas was reported missing by her parents on Sunday. Police said in a news release that she was found “safe and unharmed” and that there was no evidence that she had been taken against her will.

The city’s most recent fatal shooting before Romero — an October double homicide on Siringo Road — also happened during an alleged gun deal, according to statements made to police by the suspect in the incident.

Romero’s killing was one of three shootings in Santa Fe over the weekend.

A shooting Saturday night at the Vista Linda Apartments that injured a man appeared to stem from an argument between residents of the apartment complex. Michael Te’shawn Thomas, 23, told police he shot another man in the abdomen after the man punched his girlfriend in the face, according to a probable cause statement filed against him.

Thomas, his girlfriend and the man told officers they started arguing outside the complex, though neither said what it was about, police wrote. The alleged victim told police he hit the woman after she chased him and hit him, the affidavit states.

Police wrote that officers retrieved the gun from Thomas’ apartment and found it had been reported stolen.

Thomas was arrested and booked into the Santa Fe County Jail Saturday night. He faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a stolen firearm, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in County Court.

A shooting Sunday night also wounded a man who told police he was hijacked by another man, police said. The man told officers he had been shot and left in a field near West Alameda Street.

Santa Fe police had not identified any suspects in the incident and no charges had been filed as of Tuesday.