A 31-year-old man is now in custody in Las Cruces, charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 2024 shooting death of Octavio “Tavo” Villa, according to Doña Ana County detention center records. Jorge Luis Molina Vides was arrested Wednesday, more than two years after Villa was gunned down on May Street and about 28 months after he died from his injuries.
Court records cited by KFOX show Villa was shot on May 2, 2024, and succumbed to his wounds on June 17 of that year. According to a criminal complaint, investigators interviewed Villa at University Medical Center in El Paso while he was in critical but stable condition, and he told them two armed people approached him on May Street and opened fire as he tried to run away. Villa described one of the shooters, per the complaint, as a man in his 30s with a mohawk hairstyle.
That detail reportedly became a key thread in the investigation. Vides had a mohawk hairstyle that appeared to match Villa's description, and he was known to hang out in the area where the shooting happened, according to the seed reporting's account of the complaint.
A Witness, a Handgun, and a Confession
Investigators said a witness came forward and told them that Vides called him on the day of the shooting and said he had shot Tavo. The same witness told investigators Vides had left the handgun in his truck, and later handed the 9mm handgun, believed to belong to Vides, over to police. After testing, the weapon was described as a potential match to 9mm bullet casings recovered from the scene.
Vides was interviewed after his arrest by the Department of Homeland Security's Investigations unit, according to the criminal complaint. In that interview, he reportedly admitted to confronting Villa and firing three times at him, saying he believed none of the shots connected because Villa kept running. Vides also said he had been angry with Villa over an allegation that Villa had stolen a scooter and two BB guns.
A Two-Year Gap Before Arrest
The timeline laid out in court records shows Vides was in federal custody in Victorville, California, until October 1, before his path led back toward New Mexico. He was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety on October 27 and booked into the El Paso Downtown Jail the same day, according to El Paso County jail records. He was then extradited to New Mexico and is now being held at the Doña Ana County Jail without bond.
Crime Trends in Las Cruces
The case lands against a backdrop of shifting crime numbers in Las Cruces. Police Chief Story told KRQE that the city's overall crime rate had declined over three straight years following a 2022 peak, even as the 2024 total remained 55.2% higher than in 2018. Police also said that if the 2025 trend held for the rest of the year, Las Cruces's total crime numbers would end up lower than they were in 2021.
Records related to the case may be searchable through the New Mexico Courts Case Lookup system, though the site notes its records are meant to be viewed individually and that bulk downloading or other uses are prohibited under state law.
