Esteban Mercado-Rangel was 21 when he was killed on a September day in 2021 in the mesa of Bernalillo County, New Mexico. He and a female companion had been legally firing a gun when their vehicle developed trouble. Two men, Edgar Orona Camacho and Erick Garcia, approached under the pretense of helping but instead Camacho fatally shot Mercado-Rangel.

After the shooting the two men forced the woman into Mercado-Rangel’s car and drove toward Albuquerque, effectively kidnapping her. She later escaped by jumping from the moving vehicle and reported the attack to authorities. Both Camacho and Garcia were identified and arrested; in July 2023 Camacho pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping and faced a likely sentence of 25 years in the Department of Corrections. The co-defendant’s case was still pending at the time of that plea.

If anyone knew Esteban, the two men involved, or witnessed the events on that September day, can you share what you remember?