Albuquerque man sentenced for killing 2 women in 2021

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A teen killer who escaped from custody after taking a plea deal in a double murder learned his fate in court on Wednesday afternoon. Josef Toney admitted to killing two women in 2021 when he was only 15 years old. Before his sentencing, he escaped from the juvenile detention center which blew up his plea deal .

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The state claimed Toney violated their sentencing agreement by escaping. Judge Courtney Weaks agreed to nullify the agreement so he could face a total of 81 years for all his charges.

In January 2021, Toney shot and killed Aerial Mallam and Jessica Lucero during a robbery at the Aztec Village Apartments right in front of Mallam’s two-year-old daughter. He also shot and wounded Mallam’s uncle who asked the judge to punish Toney with the maximum sentence. “The guy that’s sitting in the defendant’s chair, that wasn’t a kid that was shooting at me. That guy knew exactly what the hell he was doing. There is no doubt in my mind, he knew what he was doing,” said Steven Mitchell, Aeria’s uncle.

Toney’s lawyer argued that her client was “dealt a bad hand” and this murder case was due to a breakdown of society. She asked for a single life sentence which equates to 30 years behind bars for the serious youthful offender.

Judge Weaks sentenced Toney to 45 years behind bars. Toney is still awaiting trial for his escape charge.

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