Court records describe an afternoon of cooking and drinking that ended with one cousin dead and another facing a murder charge.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A family gathering that began with grocery shopping, cooking and drinks ended in a fatal shooting at a northeast Albuquerque apartment complex after two cousins argued about the heat of green chile enchiladas, according to police and court records. Ervin Joaquin Gutierrez, 22, is accused of shooting 25-year-old Nathaniel Cavazos after their disagreement became a physical fight.

The shooting left Cavazos dead outside the Copper Hills apartments and set in motion a murder case that has since moved into New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court. Gutierrez faces an open count of murder, meaning the prosecution was not initially limited to a particular degree of homicide. Court calendars show that he later appeared in district court while in custody. The allegation remains pending, and the filing of a murder charge is not a finding of guilt.

Local reporting based on the criminal complaint places the shooting late Aug. 27. Some later reports, including Law&Crime, described the dinner as occurring on Aug. 28. The Albuquerque Journal reported that Gutierrez, who was living in Roswell, arrived at the apartment unexpectedly during the afternoon while in Albuquerque for a job certification program. Cavazos lived at the complex with another cousin. The three men went to a Smith’s grocery store, returned to the apartment and prepared green chile enchiladas while drinking alcohol, according to the witness account summarized in the complaint.

The gathering was peaceful at first, the third cousin told investigators. The dispute began at dinner when Gutierrez complained that the green chile on his serving seemed hotter than the chile given to Cavazos and the other relative. According to the complaint, Gutierrez repeatedly raised the issue and challenged Cavazos to taste from his plate. Cavazos responded that they had prepared the same food and therefore should have been eating chile with the same level of heat. What started as an argument about dinner continued instead of fading, according to the account given to police.

The third cousin tried to lower the tension by suggesting that the group take a dog for a walk, according to investigators. That effort did not end the dispute. The witness said Gutierrez continued provoking Cavazos until Cavazos punched him, and the two men began fighting. Cavazos eventually gained the advantage, the witness said, and the third cousin stepped in to separate them. During the fight, a gun belonging to Cavazos fell to the ground. The witness told investigators he picked up that firearm and put it in his own pocket, leaving Cavazos without it as the confrontation moved toward its final moments.

According to the criminal complaint, Cavazos then began walking away. The witness said Gutierrez, whose face was bleeding from the fight, pulled out a handgun while the two men were separated. The Albuquerque Journal reported that the witness described an exchange in which Gutierrez invoked their family relationship and Cavazos questioned why Gutierrez was pointing a gun at him. Investigators said Gutierrez then fired. Other reports citing court records said Cavazos was struck several times as he was moving away. Police found him outside on a walkway near the apartment buildings when officers arrived that night.

Emergency responders could not save Cavazos, who died at the scene. Early reports varied on the precise time officers were called, with accounts placing the response between about 10:45 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. The central sequence reported by police remained consistent: the men had been drinking and eating dinner, the food argument became a physical confrontation, Cavazos moved away after the fight and gunfire followed. Investigators treated the death as a homicide and quickly identified Gutierrez as the suspect based in part on the surviving cousin’s account.

Gutierrez had left before police completed their initial response. The witness later showed detectives Snapchat messages that investigators attributed to Gutierrez. In one message quoted in the complaint, Gutierrez asked whether Cavazos was dead and said he had not wanted to kill him. The messages also indicated that Gutierrez believed Cavazos had threatened his life. Detectives, however, wrote that the witness had described Cavazos as unarmed when he was shot. They also noted a size difference between the two men as they evaluated Gutierrez’s stated fear. Those observations reflect the investigators’ theory of the case and have not been established as findings at trial.

Gutierrez later surrendered to Albuquerque police. Police and local news reports said he approached officers in downtown Albuquerque while detectives were investigating the shooting. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and charged with an open count of murder. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office subsequently sought to keep him in custody while the case moved forward. A district court calendar for Sept. 4 listed a detention hearing and identified Gutierrez as being held at the jail.

The case then advanced from the initial Metropolitan Court proceedings into the Second Judicial District Court. A Sept. 18 criminal calendar listed State of New Mexico v. Ervin Joaquin Gutierrez, case number D-202-CR-2026-03121, for arraignment before District Judge Matthew E. Chavez. The calendar identified a prosecutor from the district attorney’s office and the Albuquerque public defender’s office for the defense, and noted that Gutierrez was in custody. Publicly indexed court material reviewed for this report did not provide a later trial date or a final resolution of the charge.

The unusual origin of the argument drew national attention, but the surviving records describe a more consequential progression than the food dispute alone: alcohol, repeated verbal conflict, a fistfight, two firearms present during the encounter and a shooting after the physical fight had been broken up. Police have alleged that Gutierrez fired as Cavazos was moving away. The defense will have the opportunity to challenge the state’s evidence and present its account as the prosecution proceeds.

Gutierrez remained the defendant in an active murder case in the latest court records located for this report. No conviction or final adjudication was found in the publicly indexed material reviewed through Oct. 20. Cavazos’ death remains the central fact behind a case that began with an ordinary family meal and is now being addressed in district court.

Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.