APD: Person of interest confesses to fatal road rage shooting

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — A person of interest in Tuesday’s road rage shooting death of a 4-year-old girl confessed to police he committed the shooting Wednesday evening after he was taken into custody around 3:30 p.m. near Central and Sunset, according to Albuquerque police.

Albuquerque police say 31-year-old Tony Torrez confessed to the murder of 4-year-old Illiana “Lilly” Garcia Wednesday night.

Torrez is charged with an open count of murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault with the intent to commit a violent felony, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, child abuse, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence.

He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center on a $650,000 cash-only bond.

Torrez does have a criminal record but court records show all cases have either been dismissed for various reasons or he has been found not guilty of all charges, save a speeding ticket.

Police say Lilly’s father, Alan Garcia, had just picked Lilly and his 7-year-old son up from school and were attempting to exit westbound I-40 onto Coors when Torrez’s vehicle cut across traffic and forced him out of his lane.

Torrez and Alan exchanged words, after which Torrez pulled out a gun and shot at Alan’s truck, hitting Lilly at least once in the head.

Wednesday, an anonymous caller told detectives they knew who the shooter was and gave them Torrez’s name. Paired with other tips, detectives were able to track him down.

Garcia was shot in the head during the incident near I-40 and Unser Tuesday afternoon around 3 p.m. She later died at the hospital.

The vehicle Torrez was in before being taken into custody Wednesday afternoon was a green Lexus. It is not the same car police described as the suspect’s vehicle, which was a red Toyota sedan.

APD spokesman Tanner Tixier said officers followed tips to a home in the Westgate area of Albuquerque and set up surveillance. There, they discovered a man who matched the description of the suspect released by police earlier Wednesday.

Detectives followed Torrez and initiated a traffic stop near the old K-Mart at Central and Sunset. Tixier said the man was taken into custody without any incident, according to officers who were at the scene.

Tixier said police are working to obtain warrants on the vehicle the man was arrested in, as well as the home he came out of in Westgate. Tixier also said the suspect red sedan used in Tuesday’s shooting may be in the home’s garage. After the search warrant for the home is signed by a judge, police will search the home to figure out if the vehicle is in the garage, according to Tixier.

Should the suspect vehicle be in the garage, a warrant will be obtained to search it as well.

Tixier said officers and everyone else involved feels a “huge sense of relief” at the person of interest’s arrest.

Police did not say if they had recovered the suspect vehicle in Torrez’s garage.

At a news conference just an hour before the person of interest was taken into custody, Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden said the police department, FBI and other agencies were working around the clock to catch the suspect.

A GoFundMe page for Lilly has been set up and has so far raised tens of thousands of dollars.

Rewards offered from the Mayor’s Office, Albuquerque City Council, FBI, CrimeStoppers and U.S. Marshals has reached a total of $36,000.

Alan Garcia posted to Facebook around the time it was announced a person of interest was arrested:

“I’m not sure what anyone can do for me at the moment. If your heart is good and your intentions are genuine any and all help would be appreciated. I know Lily would’ve wanted that all of you that know her no she was the light of my life she had away about her it was too mature for her age she was far more wiser than I will ever be she had such a big heart for everybody she definitely changed my world my little girl showed me how to truly love regardless of what people thought about me

peace and love peace and love and everybody peace and love

My little baby would sing this all the time.”

A candlelight vigil will take place for Lilly Saturday at Civic Plaza in Albuquerque at 6:30 p.m. More information on the vigil is available here.

This is a developing news story; stay posted to KOB.com and KOB Eyewitness News 4 for the latest information.

This breaking news story was originally published at KOB.com