Portales, NM – Ninth Judicial District Attorney, Andrea Reeb, announced that on October 4, 2021, Jonathan Mendez, age 20, of Portales, was convicted of Murder in the second degree, Armed Robbery, Tampering with evidence, Shooting at or from a motor vehicle and Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
On September 11, 2020, Mendez along with his co-defendants robbed Brady Vallejos and Jean Pierre Brodie at gun point. During the robbery, Brady Vallejos received a gun shot wound to the head and later succumbed to his injuries.
The Honorable Donna Mowrer presided over the hearing and sentenced Mendez to thirty-three (33) years in the Department of Corrections for his role in the incident and three additional cases.
Brady Vallejos’s family provided a statement to the court: “Our family now lives with an emptiness that can never be made whole”.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney, Quentin Ray, and Mendez was represented by criminal defense attorney, Anna Aragon, of Albuquerque.
For more information, please contact the Office of the District Attorney, at 575-769-2246.
