Tony “Nacho” Gonzales was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the 2021 fatal shooting of a Roswell man.
Chaves County District Judge Thomas Lilley handed down the sentence Aug. 20, about eight months after a 13-day trial in January that ended with Gonzales’ conviction on one count each of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Gonzales was arrested Nov. 18, 2021 for fatally shooting 29-year-old Jose Diaz during an apparent conflict at Gonzales’ home that day in the 300 block of East Bonney Street. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, but the charge was lowered at trial to second-degree murder.
For the murder charge, Gonzales was sentenced to 15 years in prison and three years for tampering with evidence as police later found the gun used in the shooting buried in Gonzales’ backyard.
The court granted Gonzales four years and nine months of time served for his incarceration during the court proceedings, meaning Gonzales will serve about 13 years and three months in prison following the sentencing.
Todd Holmes, Gonzales’ attorney, said he planned to file an appeal on behalf of his client on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
On the day of the shooting, a woman in an SUV dropped Diaz off at the Lovelace Hospital emergency room entrance. He later died of his wounds at the hospital, according to court records.
The woman later told police that before the shooting, she was with Diaz at his house at about 2:30 a.m. She said Diaz went to Gonzales’ house nearby to pick up a pipe and some pills. She said she heard shots ring out “a very short time” after Diaz left, and the woman went outside and saw him outside holding his stomach. She told police Diaz said Gonzales shot him.
Police later found a 9 millimeter Taurus handgun wrapped in a cloth and buried in Gonzales’ backyard. Court records indicate that large amounts of marijuana — and a syringe containing a substance that reportedly tested positive for fentanyl or a methamphetamine compound — were also found at the residence.
At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Deputy District Attorney Timothy Wyatt urged Lilley to approve the 18-year sentence.
“It’s not justice, 18 years is not justice, but judge, that is what the law allows and that is what I am asking for,” Wyatt said.
Esperanza Martinez, Diaz’s mother, called the case “a completely senseless killing that has fractured our family forever.”
Jessica Diaz, the victim’s sister, told the court that her brother was “pure of heart.”
“I will never get to hear his laugh again or the hugs he gave so warmly,” Jessica Diaz said.
Holmes requested that some of Gonzales’ sentences be suspended. He noted that Gonzales already spent four years in prison since his arrest and during that time has gone from being dangerous to a model prisoner who works in the kitchen and is in good standing.
At the sentencing, Gonzales expressed remorse for his actions and the grief that Diaz’s family is experiencing.
“I’m sorry for what they are going through and probably what they are going to go through,” Gonzales said.
