An Arizona guy who was accused of murdering a 17-year-old boy last year but had the charge dropped due to a lack of evidence is back in jail, this time accused of stabbing another man to death.
Phoenix police have charged Alexander Martin Reyes, 25, with second-degree murder in the killing of Gabriel Trejo. Cops came around 9 a.m. on July 31 to the area of 17th Avenue and Spruce Street after firemen discovered Trejo, 36, under a blanket with several stab wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead. After examining CCTV footage, detectives nabbed Reyes nearby. Reyes has a striking face tattoo with the initials NLB running down his right cheek. Police said he refused to speak with investigators.
Officers transported him to the Maricopa County Jail, where he sits on a $1 million bond.
This is Reyes’ second murder charge in just over 14 months.
In the other instance, he is accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Matthew Ballesteros at a BBQ. On May 13, 2023, just before midnight, Phoenix police officers responded to a shooting report at an apartment complex at 39th Avenue and McDowell Road, where Ballesteros and Reyes were allegedly having a barbecue in the common area.
A probable cause arrest affidavit published by local Fox station KSAZ stated that Ballesteros went to a nearby apartment around 8 p.m. during the cookout to request a phone to call his mother to bring him up. According to the affidavit, the victim told the occupant of the unit that the defendant was misbehaving.
He returned to the apartment around 11:30 p.m., asked for the phone again, and informed the person inside that Reyes had pointed a gun at him. Minutes after Ballesteros left the residence, witnesses heard shots and found him on the ground with gunshot wounds.
Police discovered Ballesteros with gunshot wounds. First responders transported him to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead the next day, Mother’s Day. On May 17, 2023, police arrested Reyes for murder.
However, the murder accusations filed against Reyes were dismissed.
“At the time, there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction based on the facts and circumstances,” the Maricopa County State Attorney’s Office stated.
Ballesteros’ mother informed KSAZ that the office gave her a letter informing her that they could not prosecute the case due to insufficient proof.
She was at work when she learned that Reyes had been accused of murder again.
“I needed to leave. “I couldn’t breathe,” she told the television network. “To know that he has hurt or murdered someone else when this should not have occurred. This should not have happened. It simply reopens a wound from the day I had to say goodbye to my son.”
She intends to monitor the newest murder case to ensure that both her and Trejo’s families receive justice.
“I want them to know my face, that I am Matthew’s mother, and that Matthew was taken from me,” she stated during an interview with the TV station. “You killed a man lying on the ground and a 17-year-old boy from behind. That is the most cowardly. They allowed this man to leave to do the same thing to someone else. Now, not only am I hurting, but so is another family.
The Maricopa County State Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.