He is accused of shooting and killing Cypress Garcia at Lotaburger in 2022
The man accused of shooting and killing an employee at Blake’s Lotaburger in Española in 2022 pleaded guilty in his federal case for a string of armed robberies, including the fatal one.
Ricky Martinez, 34, of Española, has not been charged with anything for the killing of Cypress Garcia, 22, at Blake’s Lotaburger, which Martinez tried to rob. However, the plea deal signed Oct. 8 states he will plead guilty to a murder charge in state court for Garcia’s killing, but it has not yet been filed.
Martinez faces a maximum of life in his federal case, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of interference with commerce by robbery and one count each of carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, interference with commerce by attempted robbery and felon in possession of a firearm.
His sentence will be up to the judge, per the plea deal, although he will receive some level of suggested sentence reduction because of the plea deal.
No sentencing date has been set.
Prosecutors will ask the judge that whatever sentence he receives in this case, will run at the same time as whatever sentence he receives in the state murder case, according to the plea agreement.
Martinez has been held without bail since he was arrested shortly after the killing.
The initial charging documents listed seven robberies across Santa Fe, Española and Taos. However, the indictments are only for four robberies, all in Española.
The first, at 5:46 a.m. Aug. 9, 2022 was at Dandy’s Burgers, where he allegedly threatened an employee with a handgun, according to the superseding indictment.
The second was on Aug. 10 at the Shell gas station, where he allegedly brandished a pistol, Cortez wrote.
The third, on Aug. 11, was at Walgreens, where he allegedly shot in the direction of an employee, who suffered burns on their left arm from the proximity of the shot, Cortez wrote.
The fourth was the fatal attempted robbery of Lotaburger, Cortez wrote.
FBI Special Agent Jose Cortez, in the initial charging documents, implicated Martinez in additional robberies which were not part of either indictment: the Aug. 13 robbery of the Emporia Smoke Shop in Española, the Aug. 14 robbery of Chalupp’s Pizza in Taos and the Aug. 15 robbery of Family Dollar in Española on North Riverside Drive.
Co-Defendants
Two other people have been charged in the Lotaburger robbery, but neither for Garcia’s death — Adelene Urquijo and Ashley Thompson.
Urquijo pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact with a sentence of five years, per her plea deal, signed Aug. 7, 2024.
According to the plea deal, she admitted to driving a stolen van around Española with Martinez as her passenger until they went to Blake’s Lotaburger, where he got out and shot Garcia. Martinez returned to the van, they drove away, he told her he tried to rob the “joint,” he shot someone and dropped the gun. She took him to her trailer and called Thompson to pick him up and helped her get him away from her trailer, in the trunk of Thompson’s car.
In Thompson’s plea deal, signed April 8, 2024, she admitted to coordinating with Urquijo to pick up Martinez. Her plea deal did not set a specific sentence. Unlike Urquijo, who was held without bail, Thompson was released and repeatedly sought to have her sentencing pushed out so she could “demonstrate her progress and sobriety prior to sentencing.” She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years.
She is now set to have her pre-trial release revoked after drug tests were positive for amphetamines and she admitted to using methamphetamine and drinking in July. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Rozzoni allowed her to remain on bail and referred the case to a district judge. No sentencing date has been set. It was last set for March 13, but never happened and was never reset.
While the FBI did not arrest Thompson until Dec. 4 on the federal warrant, she was first arrested in Albuquerque by the police there on Nov. 28, after an officer saw her sitting on the sidewalk, allegedly with a piece of foil and straw.
After running her name, Officer Gabriel Copeland found she was wanted on the federal warrant and he arrested her on the warrant and charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, Copeland wrote in a criminal complaint.