On the night of October 11, 2023, 33-year-old Brandy McManus was inside her West Side Albuquerque home with her 10-year-old daughter when two masked men began banging on the door around 10 p.m., demanding entry to rob her. When Brandy refused, one of the men shot her through an exterior window. She suffered a single gunshot wound and died at the scene; her daughter was not physically harmed and called her father, who then called 911.

An armed neighbor who heard the shot came outside and exchanged gunfire with the assailants as they fled; the neighbor was uninjured. Detectives determined the men intended to steal a firearm they had seen in a social media post and that one of the suspects knew either Brandy or her husband. Police tracked cell phones used by the suspects and recovered a gun matching the murder weapon. Three men were arrested and charged with open counts of murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and tampering with evidence: Austin Wilkins, 28; Joseph Montoya, 32; and Kristopher Darling, 24, the latter already in custody on unrelated charges when identified.

Does anyone who lived in the West Side neighborhood at that time or who knew Brandy have information that could help investigators?