Teens arrested in fatal shooting of Albuquerque homeless man

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two teenagers who police said Tuesday bragged to friends about shooting a homeless man near downtown Albuquerque have been arrested. According to police, the boys — ages 15 and 17 — had been coming and going from a hotel party early March 18 when they shot and killed 50-year-old Ronnie Ross. An autopsy for Ross showed he was shot nearly a dozen times — including multiple times in the back. Friends and acquaintances of the boys told detectives that the two suspects had been showing off a gun at the party, and had said to others that they had shot a man. At one point, the younger boy also said to a close friend at the party that he shot a "hobo" in the back, according to police. After leaving the party, the two boys made one more stop at the crime scene to find Ross still alive, and then the older boy shot him multiple times, later telling a friend about it, according to a criminal complaint. The friend told police that the boy had shot the man to "finish him off." "It's completely disturbing," said Officer Simon Drobik, an Albuquerque police spokesman. "They just shot this guy for fun. It's completely cold-blooded." It wasn't immediately known whether the boys had an attorney who could be reached for comment. The Associated Press is not naming them because of their ages. The criminal complaints filed against the boys did not identify a motive for the shooting. They each face a charge of an open count of murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit a first-degree felony. Christine Johnson, the victim's sister, told police after they contacted her that Ross had been homeless and often traveled the Southwest between New Mexico and Arizona.