Three men indicted in 7-Eleven murder

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A grand jury meeting in Albuquerque has indicted three men suspected in the July 17 killing of a 7-Eleven clerk on multiple charges including first-degree murder and kidnapping.

Eloy Aguilar, 22, the alleged gunman, is charged with eight crimes including an open count of murder that ranges from wifull and deliberate first degree murder to lesser alternatives.

Dylan Villareal, 22, and Julian Deherrera, 20, whom police said were Aguilar's accomplices, each face nearly two dozen charges.  The additional counts relate to the armed holdup of people in a van outside the 7-Eleven at Central Avenue SE and University Boulevard.

All three faces sentences of up to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder and decades locked up if convicted of the other charges.

The indictments were handed up Wednesday and filed on Thursday, the legal deadline to indict the men after their arrests.

According to investigators, the trio was cruising early on the morning of July 17 when they decided to rob the 7-
Eleven.

While Villareal and Deherrera were stealing cell phones from the people in the van, Aguilar went inside to rob the store shot and killed clerk Chad Mercer, according to police.

Investigators used a tracking feature in one of the stolen cell phones to find Villareal and Deherrera on the day of the shooting.  The pair said when they heard the gunshot, they got in their car and fled leaving Aguilar behind, police said at the time.

Aguilar was arrested the next day.

The kidnapping charges relate to the men allegedly holding their victims captive at gunpoint during the crimes.