Albuquerque cousin fatally shot after heated debate over spicy enchiladas
Police say 22-year-old Ervin Joaquin Gutierrez shot and killed his 25-year-old cousin Nathaniel Cavazos during a drunken argument about the heat of green enchiladas.
According to police, Ervin Joaquin Gutierrez, 22, arrived at an Albuquerque apartment complex to cook green enchiladas with his cousin Nathaniel Cavazos, 25, and another relative. While drinking, Gutierrez repeatedly claimed his chilies were hotter than Cavazos’s, prompting a heated exchange. The disagreement escalated into a fistfight outside the building, after which Gutierrez allegedly drew a handgun and shouted, “We’re family!
How could you do this to me?” before firing three or four shots at Cavazos’s back. Officers responding around 11 p.m. discovered Cavazos dead on a walkway, with his own handgun found about ten yards away. A third cousin provided a Snapchat message from Gutierrez claiming Cavazos had threatened his life. Gutierrez was taken into custody the following day and booked on a murder charge at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Why it matters
The case highlights how a trivial dispute can quickly turn deadly, raising concerns about gun access and domestic violence.
In this story
