Suspect in heist, slaying was on pretrial release

Mike Gallagher, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·5 min read

Apr. 28—An 18-year-old man, on pretrial release for shooting a pistol from a car in December, was charged with the Friday night shotgun killing of a "friend" he met at the Metropolitan Detention Center, and robbery of a convenience store in separate incidents over the weekend.

Devin Munford was initially arrested on charges of armed robbery of a 7-Eleven store on Kathryn SE on Sunday night and was charged Tuesday with the slaying Friday of Devon Heyborne, 22, and threatening a woman with a shotgun.

Heyborne was hit twice by shotgun shells when he answered the door of his apartment around 5 p.m. Friday, according to a criminal complaint filed by Albuquerque police detectives.

Witnesses told detectives that Munford and a friend, whom they identified as "Armando," had stolen a semi-automatic rifle from Heyborne but later returned it.

The District Attorney's Office Criminal Strategies Unit was able to identify Munford through a Snapchat video posted 30 minutes after the homicide in which he was observed rapping and showing off a shotgun.

An employee of the District Attorney's Office told detectives that Munford was on pretrial release and was ordered to wear a GPS monitor.

Detectives asked Pretrial Services for records showing Munford's location around the time of the slaying based on his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet.

Detectives filed a search warrant for the information Saturday, and they received the information Sunday morning.

It was unclear whether officers were required to file the search warrant. A court spokesman said they were looking into the matter Tuesday.

According to the criminal complaint, the GPS data placed Munford near Heyborne's apartment, in the 800 block of Locust Place NE.

District Attorney Raúl Torrez said he was "surprised" that Pretrial Services required a search warrant for the information.

"Other jurisdictions give the GPS location data on the request of law enforcement," Torrez said. "I don't think there is basis in the law that a person being monitored has an expectation of privacy.

"The faster you get the information, the faster police can act on it."

While detectives were at the scene of the homicide, they received a report that shortly before the killing an elderly woman had asked Munford to move his car, which was blocking her car, parked in the 600 block of Chama SE.

According to court records, the woman said Munford pointed a shotgun at her, fired the weapon and then drove away in his car.

The woman was able to give police the last three digits of the license plate number of the car, and according to court records, they matched Munford's license plate.

Munford hasn't been charged in that incident, but Torrez said it was under investigation.

Torrez has been critical of the pretrial release system since he took office.

Jennifer Barela, Albuquerque district defender for the Public Defender's Office, called Munford's case an "outlier."

"His release followed his first felony arrest in which no one was hurt," Barela said. "The alternative is to lock everyone up prior to trial."

Armed robbery

On Sunday night, police responded to an armed robbery call at a 7-Eleven store in the Southeast Heights.

They chased one of the suspects on foot, arresting Munford. They found two shotgun shells in his pocket and located a shotgun near the store.

According to the criminal complaint, two store employees identified Munford as the man who carried a shotgun into the store.

He told police that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and that two other people robbed the store, according to court records.

After he was arrested for the armed robbery, homicide detectives interviewed Munford.

The criminal complaint said Munford blamed the shooting of Heyborne on Armando, who he said was from Mexico.

He also told detectives that Heyborne was selling drugs for him and that Heyborne owed him $3,000.

The criminal complaint said that Munford admitted that he got into a dispute with the older woman and that he fired his shotgun into the air.

December arrest

According to witnesses, Munford and Heyborne met at MDC in December when Munford, who gave an address in Atlanta, was arrested by Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies for firing a pistol out of a car on Second Street, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of a controlled substance.

According to the criminal complaint, Munford possessed a bottle of Xanax pills manufactured in Mexico.

Heyborne was in MDC at the same time on charges stemming from two domestic violence cases. Both cases were dismissed by prosecutors before he was shot to death.

The Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office filed a motion in Munford's case to keep him locked up.

District Judge Clara Moran denied the prosecutor's motion, noting that the state had shown Munford "may be a danger to the public" but failed to show that there were no conditions of release that could reasonably protect the public.

Public Defender Barela said, "The court put him on more strict conditions of release than was recommended."

According to the Public Safety Assessment, Munford was eligible to be released on his own recognizance because of his minimal contact with the criminal justice system.

Munford was released but had to wear a GPS monitor tracked by the court's Pretrial Services Division and was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Barela said the District Attorney's Office is filing between 80 to 100 pretrial detention motions each month.

"That makes it difficult on everyone to determine which defendants need to have limited resources directed at their cases," Barela said.

Torrez said, "If this is the highest level of monitoring they do at the court, you have to ask how closely monitored other people released to lower-level monitoring are."

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