ALBUQUERQUE – A New Mexico man is facing charges in connection with a fatal shooting that a witness said stemmed from a request to borrow water.
KOB-TV reports Richard Maliszewski appeared in an Albuquerque court Tuesday on a murder charge for the shooting death of Christopher Yazzie.
According to a criminal complaint, the 70-year-old Maliszewski told authorities a neighbor has threatened him with a bat so he shot him in the head.
But Yazzie’s fiancée told investigators she and Yazzie had no running water in their home and she went next door to ask Maliszewski for some. The fiancé says Maliszewski started yelling racial slurs at her.
She says Maliszewski shot an unarmed Yazzie who went over to confront him.
It was not known if Maliszewski had an attorney.
