Roswell Daily Record
Roswell woman shot, killed THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 122 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
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May 21, 2011
Officers process the scene at 2800 W. Fourth St. after the shooting of Victoria Velasquez-Arrias, around 1 p.m. Friday.
The granddaughter of Roswell City Councilor Elena Velasquez was shot and killed, Friday. The Roswell Police Department received a 911 call at 12:45 p.m. about a shooting that took place at an apartment complex, located at 2800 W. Fourth St. Officers secured the area. Emergency Medical Service personnel confirmed the woman to be deceased at the scene.
The case has been ruled a homicide. The victim was later identified as Victoria Velasquez-Arrias, 22. Police sources confirmed that Victoria VelasquezArrias was the granddaughter of Ward V City Councilor Elena Velasquez and current member of the council’s Police Committee. A person of interest was detained by officers as he attempted to flee the scene. Detectives are interviewing
UPHAM (AP) — In the remote desert of southern New Mexico, hundreds of students from across the state, Arizona and Texas gathered at dawn Friday to watch as a rocket whisked a year’s worth of their work into space. The SL-5 rocket lifted off following a bright flash ... - PAGE A6
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high school.” Co-valedictorians William Liakos and Sawyer Wilson, who have remained close friends since second grade, each congratulated their classSee RHS, Page A3
See RPD, Page A3
For The Past 24 Hours
• University High School graduates 74 • Three teens arrested on ‘joy ride’ • County OKs nearly $1 mil emergency purchase for fire trucks • Hatfield builds foster home • Bear season?
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Bolaños on RHS ’11: A great class Roswell High seniors give and receive their final high school hugs before marching onto the Wool Bowl football field Friday evening for commencement ceremonies.
EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Two valedictorians, 11 sets of twins, 38 honor grads and 259 graduates happily threw their caps up in the air Friday evening after receiving
‘MACHO MAN’ DEAD AT 58
Randy “Macho Man” Savage, the professional wrestler known for his raspy voice, the sunglasses and bandanas he wore in the ring and the young woman named Miss Elizabeth who often accompanied him, died in a car crash Friday in Florida. He was 58. A Florida Highway Patrol crash report said the former wrestler — whose legal name was Randy Mario Poffo — was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he lost control in Pinellas County around 9:25 a.m. The Jeep veered over the raised concrete median - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Fred C. Gonzales • Raul Anchondo - PAGE A6
HIGH ...92˚ LOW .....57
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their high school diplomas and graduating from Roswell High School. With red and white balloons flying high at the Wool Bowl, the Fighting Coyotes proudly chanted the RHS Alma Mater for the last time.
“Who’s going to deny that we have spirit, that we have passion?” Sara Humaran asked her classmates in her salutatorian address. “I want you guys to have that same spirit and that same passion in everything you do past
RPD seeks info on shooting
At 9:49 p.m., Thursday, officers from the Roswell Police Department were called to Roswell Regional Hospital in reference to a gunshot victim. Raul Anchondo, 43, was pronounced dead by Emergency Department physicians a short time later. Officers determined that the crime scene was the victim’s residence at 109 S. Montana Ave. Officers have yet to determine the time of the actual shooting. “We can assume it was a little before that,” said Holley. Officials from the Technical Services Unit and the Criminal Investigation Division spent the night and most of the day processing the scene of the shooting. According to Public Information Officer Travis Holley, several potential witnesses were interviewed by police, but no motive has been established or sus-
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him, but no charges had been filed as of 5 p.m., Friday. RPD spokesman Officer Travis Holley said, “It is the second shooting in less than 24 hours. We are stretched. Our detectives have been up all night and will spend another night without sleep.” Holley said that officials do not have any information that might link the shootings of Raul Anchondo, Thursday night, and Velasquez-Arrias.
Herrera pre-trials Face to face, Netanyahu to begin July 18 rejects Obama on borders JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The prosecution filed a motion Friday for a continuance in the trial of Israel Herrera, who is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 22 death of Stephen Foster. The 25-year-old was shot in the head while driving a friend's van near the intersection of West Walnut Street and South Ohio Avenue. Herrera, 22, was arrested and charged with murder after he was caught running from the scene.
Assistant District Attorney Debra Hutchins told the court that the state is waiting for ballistics and DNA reports. She expects DNA results in mid-July and the ballistics report sometime in August. Judge Charles C. Currier inquired what DNA samples were being processed. Hutchins replied they awaited DNA matches on the two guns found at the scene. “One was located in the garbage and another under the property. The ballistics See HERRERA, Page A3
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blunt display of differences, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of using his country’s 1967 boundaries as the basis for a neighboring Palestinian state on Friday, declaring his objections face-to-face to President Barack Obama who had raised the idea just 24 hours earlier in an effort to revive stalled Mideast peace talks. Though the two leadSee FACE, Page A3
AP Photo
President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Oval Office, Friday.
Freddie Romero’s New Mexico roots go back to Oñate JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............A7 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
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Judge Freddie J. Romero
Freddie J. Romero, 5th District Court judge, is not only one of the pillars of the judicial system in Roswell, his family for med the foundations of New Mexico. The Romero family line is one of the oldest in New Mexico. The Romeros arrived in 1589 with the Oñate Expedition. Romero’s forefather Bartolome Romero left Spain for the New World in 1563. He was married to Luisa Gomez Robledo. They joined Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar after he was ordered by King Philip II to colonize the northern frontier of New Spain in 1595. The expedition began in 1598. They crossed the Rio Grande (Río
del Norte) at the present-day Ciudad Juárez–El Paso in late April. On April 30, 1598, Oñate claimed
1598, near a bluff that still bears the name Robledo. The family continued north with
all of New Mexico beyond the river for Spain. Luisa’s father Pedro Robledo had requested a license to travel to New Spain in 1574, because he was struggling to survive in Spain. Pedro ended his days in New Mexico. He died near Las Cruces, the first Spanish colonist to die in New México. He was buried on May 21,
the colony and were among the founders of San Gabriel de los Caballeros. They stayed in New Mexico, leaving only once from 1680 to 1692 during the Pueblo Revolt. According to family legend, Bartolome’s wife Luisa fought the IndiSee SPOTLIGHT, Page A3