Tijeras Man, 24, Charged in Killings of Parents, Teenage Sister and Family Dog

A 24-year-old Tijeras man is accused of fatally shooting his parents and 17-year-old sister, along with the family dog, in a case that Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said still has many unanswered questions.

"There's a lot to unpack," Allen said at a Monday morning press conference, the day after the killings came to light. He said investigators do not yet know what allegedly drove Adlai Mestre to shoot his relatives or how long they had been dead. "It's still very early," the sheriff said.

Mestre is charged with three counts of open murder, five counts of tampering with evidence, extreme cruelty to animals, escape or attempt to escape from the custody of a peace officer, and criminal damage to property over $1,000. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, and it is not clear who is representing him.

Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office deputies received a call about a shooting on Young Road in Tijeras at 2:14 p.m. Sunday. According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, a neighbor told deputies he heard shots, went to the family's house and honked his horn, but got no response. Allen said deputies arrived less than an hour later and made contact with a man, later identified as Mestre, who was carrying a handgun and a second magazine loaded with ammunition.

While he was being detained, deputies said, Mestre said something to the effect of, "I killed them and was going to bury them." The victims were identified as his father, Raymundo Mestre, 46; his mother, Bertha Mestre, 51; and his sister, Brielle Mestre, 17. Allen said the gun belonged to the mother.

Deputies said Mestre later told them he shot his father in the living room and his mother as she came down the stairs, though he said he did not know about his sister. He allegedly dragged the bodies outside and left them in a ravine about 50 yards from the house, where deputies found them with gunshot wounds. According to the complaint, Mestre also said he killed the family dog because it "was ravenous."

Inside the home, the complaint states, deputies found bloodstains consistent with "drag marks and mopping/cleaning," as well as a knife and a meat tenderizer hammer with blood on them. Mestre told deputies he had been trying to mop up before they interrupted him.

The complaint also says that while Mestre was in an interview room at the sheriff's office facility, he punched and then kicked a wall and escaped. Detectives chased him down a hall and arrested him.

Allen said Mestre spent time at Haven Behavioral Hospital of Albuquerque about a year ago. He said that if deputies had been notified of the hospitalization, they could have followed up and possibly worked to ensure Mestre would not be a danger to himself or others.

The sheriff said the case reminded him of Nehemiah Griego, who at 15 killed his parents and three younger siblings in the South Valley in 2013 and received a life sentence in 2019. Allen urged the public to watch for loved ones with behavioral health struggles, particularly when firearms are in the home. "We need to start paying attention and doing our part also, not just law enforcement," he said.