A New Mexico man, Brayden Matthew Alvarado, has been sentenced to life in federal prison in El Paso for the 2023 carjacking, kidnapping, and murder of Las Cruces resident Abel Patrick Tarin. U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced the sentencing on Thursday.
According to court documents and trial evidence, Alvarado, 23, of Vado, New Mexico, carjacked Tarin in December 2023. He then drove Tarin onto Fort Bliss desert property where he fatally shot him in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun.
The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division discovered Tarin's body on December 13, 2023. An autopsy two days later identified him, following a missing person report by the Las Cruces Police Department and Dona Ana Sheriff’s Office. Tarin’s vehicle was later found in El Paso, revealing blood evidence, a gunshot hole, and Alvarado's fingerprints, leading to his arrest on December 22, 2023.
Alvarado was indicted on January 17, 2024, and a federal jury found him guilty on August 14, 2025, of kidnapping resulting in death and carjacking resulting in death. The kidnapping conviction carries a mandatory life sentence.
The case was investigated by the FBI, Army CID, El Paso Police Department, and Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mallory Rasmussen, Lori Hughes, and Patricia Acosta prosecuted the case.