Nampa woman charged with robbing teen on same day he was murdered
A 42-year-old Nampa woman is accused of stealing a gold chain from a teenager during her family’s confrontation with him just hours before he was shot to death, according to court documents.
Maribel Menchaca was charged Tuesday with felony robbery and felony persistent violator. She is being held in the Canyon County Jail on $100,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 15.
The gold chain belonged to Roberto Angel Gomez, a Nampa 16-year-old who was shot multiple times on Sept. 25 and died at a Boise hospital that night, an affidavit filed by a Nampa police officer says.
Menchaca told police investigators that she was backing up her son when she confronted Gomez that day. She admitted pushing him and yanking the chain off his neck. She said she wasn’t involved in any other retaliation against the teen.
“I [expletive] R.G. up myself, like what the [expletive], you know,” police quoted her in the affidavit. “It was wrong. Very wrong. But I’ll tell you something. I did not go back and retaliate with R.G. I was already beating myself up that I hit this little kid. And I’m admitting to it. I know my life is going to pieces right now.”
Nampa Police Sgt. Brian Jones said Menchaca hasn’t been ruled out as a suspect in Gomez’s death.
“Right now, we have a lot of names that we’re investigating.,” he said. “We’re trying to track down every lead. We don’t have a prime suspect.”
Investigators don’t know if the murder is connected to the earlier confrontation, Jones said. A 16-year-old juvenile was also charged in connection with the robbery of Gomez, he said.
Menchaca’s son told police that during his family’s confrontation of Gomez, his uncle punched and knocked Gomez to the ground. He said his mother struck Gomez with the teen’s gold chain., and he admitted taking Gomez’s gun from the trailer, the affidavit says.
Nampa police were called to investigate an incident at 1125 Powell Ave. at 6:40 p.m. Sept. 25. The reporting party said there were possibly seven people involved, including Hispanic males, and one appeared to have been knocked out, the affidavit says.
Gomez was shot about four hours later — just before 10:30 p.m. near 11th Avenue North and Powell Avenue. He died at a local hospital after 11 p.m., police said.
Gomez’s 15-year-old sister told police that she and her mom saw him at his home about 45 minutes before he was shot. She said he told them that he had been “screwed over” by Menchaca’s 16-year-old son.
Police are asking for anyone with information about the shooting to contact them at 208-465-2257 or Crime Stoppers at 208-343-COPS.
Katy Moeller: 208-377-6413
This story was originally published November 7, 2018 at 1:18 PM.