ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Family members had raised red flags for a man they knew was dangerous before he committed his second double murder. Today, the City of Albuquerque is paying out $850,000 in a wrongful death lawsuit case that KRQE Investigative Reporter Gabrielle Burkhart highlighted back in 2023.
Albuquerque man appears in court for double murder charges
An attorney for the family says the hefty payout speaks volumes about what police failed to do at the time. A warning, some of the video from this case is disturbing.
A cold-blooded killing was captured on camera at an Albuquerque apartment complex in 2022. Video shows 31-year-old Daniel Humphrey opening his front door when a man, later identified as his upstairs neighbor, John Paul Ballejos, pulls a gun, shoots him in the head, then goes inside to shoot and kill Humphrey’s aunt, 46-year-old Sonia Tenorio.
“I think it shows some great deal of accountability from the city’s standpoint, especially considering there’s two lives lost in this case that could have been prevented,” explained David Adams. Adams is the attorney representing the family in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the City of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Department, based on a “failure to investigate prior activity involving Ballejos.”…