Man pleads guilty in two unrelated Albuquerque shooting deaths

Feb. 16—An Albuquerque man pleaded guilty this week to two counts of second-degree murder and other charges for his role in a pair of unrelated killings less than four months apart in 2022 and 2023.

Melvin Robinson, 34, entered the pleas Thursday in the shooting deaths of 41-year-old Bradley Soza in February 2023 and Isaac Torres in October 2022, court records show.

Robinson also pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and faces up to 40 years in prison, said Nancy Laflin, spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office.

State District Judge David Murphy has not scheduled a sentencing hearing.

Robinson's co-defendant, Casper Rickords, 23, faces two counts of first-degree murder and other charges in the killings of Soza and Torres.

Rickords' case remains pending in 2nd Judicial District Court. A trial has not been scheduled.

Albuquerque police found Torres fatally shot at an Albuquerque Rapid Transit bus station at 100 Central SW on Oct. 22, 2022, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Surveillance video showed Torres speaking with two men outside the Downtown bus station when one of the men pulled out a gun and fired two shots at Torres, the complaint said.

The two men then left the scene together on a motor scooter.

On Feb. 6, 2023, police responded to Soza's fatal shooting near the Ambassador Inn at 1520 Candelaria NE.

Police found that Soza had been shot in the back and later crawled into the street, where he was struck by a car, the complaint said.

Security video showed a man with a bulletproof vest hit Soza with a pole before a second man shot him once, it said. Other video showed both men entering and exiting the office at the Ambassador Inn.

A manager at the hotel said she had hired Robinson as a temporary security guard while she was out of town. Rickords later told police that the manager had returned shortly before Soza was asked to leave the property.

Rickords told police that Robinson shot Soza and then beat him with a pole, the complaint said.

Rickords also told police that he and Robinson shot Torres during an argument over a gun purchase, it said.