Jan. 9—The fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man at an Northeast Albuquerque motel was resolved this week by a plea agreement with a second person charged in the killing.

Both co-defendants have pleaded no contest to shooting at or from a motor vehicle resulting in the death of Miguel Sanchez in 2021.

Matthew Martinez, 28, entered his plea on Monday and faces four to nine years in prison at sentencing.

His co-defendant, Anjanette Martinez, 31, entered her plea in December and faces up to eight years in prison.

No sentencing hearing has been scheduled in either case. Second Judicial District Judge Emeterio Rudolfo presided in both cases.

Albuquerque police responded around 2:30 a.m. on April 17, 2021, to a shooting at the Quality Inn and Suites near Menaul NE and Interstate 25.

Officers found Sanchez behind the wheel of a truck that had crashed into a pillar. Sanchez was injured by a single gunshot and died four days later at a hospital.

The 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said the case offered “challenging factual circumstances” that led to the plea agreements.

“The order of events leading up to the shooting is unclear, opening up the possibility of a potential self defense claim,” the DA’s office said in a written statement.

The firearm used in the shooting was never found, and the identification of Matthew Martinez as the gunman was based entirely on statements from his co-defendant, the statement said.

“Other than Anjanette, there is no direct evidence to put the firearm in Matthew Martinez’s hand,” the statement said. “The results of the shooting reconstruction indicate that either Matthew or Anjanette could have fired the fatal shots.”

Anjanette Martinez initially was charged with first-degree murder and Matthew Martinez with second-degree murder.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Sanchez’s girlfriend told police she and Sanchez confronted a woman stealing her belongings from a hotel room.

Surveillance video showed the girlfriend confronting a man and a woman before the man got into the driver’s side of an SUV and the woman got into the passenger seat.

The girlfriend told police that Sanchez attempted to prevent the pair from driving away by blocking their SUV with his own vehicle, the complaint said. Sanchez was then shot by someone in the SUV, it said.