Killer Girlfriend Lies Straight to Detectives, Thinks the Act Is Working — Then the Video Plays

I know all three of them are armed. >> All three of those guys talking about. >> Tell me what you know. >> Although that’s what I know. I told you the truth. I got nothing else to say. >> This is Diamond Salazar, Estan Lucero, and Caprice Siccilia. Three teenagers being investigated for murder. And just like everyone who’s ever committed a crime, they were convinced they’d gotten away with it.

 But there was evidence waiting for them. Evidence none of them knew about. >> Who’s that that gets out of the vehicle? Diamond. >> That’s Diamond. >> This is the chilling case of a 19-year-old girl who became the architect of a killing without ever pulling the trigger. Because what happened outside a Maverick gas station on March 25th, 2022 will challenge everything you think you know about mistaken identity, revenge, and how surveillance cameras have a way of destroying even the most carefully constructed defense. On the evening of

March 25th, 2022, 19-year-old Diamond Salazar and her friend, 17-year-old Capri Sicilia, drove to Columbus Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They were there to buy marijuana. Instead, they became victims of a violent robbery. As the two friends sat in the park, several masked men approached them.

 At first, it was difficult to understand what was happening. Then, the guns came out. The masked men pistolhipped both girls, stole a phone, cash, and other belongings, and fled the scene. There was never much dispute about this part of the story. The robbery was real. What investigators needed to understand was what happened afterward.

 Because the decisions Diamond Salazar made over the next hour would eventually put an innocent family directly in the path of deadly gunfire. Neither Diamond nor Caprice called the police, they did not go home. Instead, they used a phone tracking app to locate the stolen device. The signal led them toward a Maverick gas station on Princeton Drive.

Ne Diamond immediately drove there with Caprice. When they arrived, Diamond made a phone call. Not to 911, not to the police. She called someone else. Keep that in mind because that decision would become one of the most important details in the entire case. About 30 minutes later, three teenage boys arrived at the gas station.

 Tai Ashton Galagos, 16, Adam Sadilo, 16, and Estean Luchero, 15. These were the people Diamond had called, and they did not arrive empty-handed. All three were carrying loaded firearms. Five teenagers now stood in the parking lot, watching, waiting, and studying every vehicle that entered the gas station. At first glance, it might have seemed like they were trying to find the people responsible for the robbery.

 But what happened next suggested something very different. At exactly 8:40 p.m., a black SUV pulled into the Maverick station. Behind the wheel was Jonathan Deatis. In the passenger seat sat his fianceé, 28-year-old Kayla Montano. Also inside the vehicle were Kayla’s 7-year-old daughter, her brother, and her brother’s girlfriend.

 They were on their way to Topgolf. They had stopped for gas and snacks before continuing their evening. None of them knew they had just driven into the middle of someone else’s search for revenge. The moment Diamond saw the SUV, she yelled to the others more than once. Then she stepped back. The three boys moved toward the gas pumps.

 What happened next was captured on surveillance cameras and would later become some of the most important evidence in the case. As soon as Diamond identified the SUV, Tai Ashton, Adam Sadillo, and a Stevian Lucero opened fire. More than 30 rounds were fired at the vehicle. Inside the SUV, confusion turned into terror.

 Cayla Montano had been struck by gunfire. She screamed for Damatis to move the vehicle. Running on pure adrenaline, he threw the SUV into reverse, struck a gas pump, and accelerated away from the station. He had been shot in the back. Another bullet had grazed his head, but he kept driving. Nearly 2 mi from the gas station, the vehicle finally came to a stop.

 Damattis survived, but Kayla did not. She was pronounced dead after suffering multiple gunshot wounds, her 7-year-old daughter survived physically unharmed, and so did everyone else in the back seat. But the emotional damage would last far longer. A little girl had just watched her mother die. Kayla’s brother had watched his only sister get shot for reasons he could not understand.

 And Demattis had watched the woman he planned to marry take bullets meant for someone else because that was the most devastating part. The family had absolutely nothing to do with the robbery at Columbus Park. They did not know Diamond Salazar. They had never met her. They had simply stopped for gas. Meanwhile, the five teenagers fled the scene in two separate vehicles.

 They believed they had gotten away with it, but investigators would soon discover that they were not nearly as careful as they thought. One of the Maverick surveillance cameras captured a partial license plate number from a vehicle leaving the scene. Detectives ran the information. The registration came back to Capri Sicilia and just like that, the investigation began moving in a very different direction.

 Police eventually made contact with Sicilia and that conversation would become the beginning of the end. >> Who’s that that gets out of the vehicle? >> Diamond. That’s Diamond. >> Okay. All right. So, Diamond’s wearing all black and she gets out of the female I mean out of the passenger side. Is that correct? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay.

So, we have in this picture we have Esteon and yellow um diamond and black uh female passenger. Um, now in black is um, Ty and then the one on white is Adam. >> Mhm. >> Okay. Okay. Let’s go get a little bit further up. Could you stay in the car for a little bit? What were you doing in the car and all this when they were talking outside? What were you doing with me? >> I don’t really don’t try to get involved in their stuff.

>> Gotcha. Um, this is just a few minutes later. Uh, 2041. The other one was about 2037. Um, what’s happening there? Uh, when who’s sitting on that passenger door? >> Pretty sure it’s Diamond. >> Cecilia told investigators everything. She described the robbery at Columbus Park.

 She explained how Diamond tracked the stolen phone to the Maverick gas station. and she told detectives what happened after Diamond called her friends to the scene. For investigators, it was the breakthrough they had been waiting for. Sicilia’s statement connected names, vehicles, phone records, and surveillance footage that had previously existed as separate pieces of evidence.

 The investigation accelerated, and as detectives dug deeper, they uncovered something they had not known before. Diamond Salazar was connected to one of the shooters. That discovery would become a major focus of the case. But investigators were not relying on Sicilia’s account alone. They also had the testimony of someone who had been sitting inside the SUV when the gunfire erupted.

 Someone who had watched the entire attack unfold from just a few feet away. Kayla Montano’s brother’s girlfriend survived the shooting. Physically, she escaped without injury. Emotionally, the experience stayed with her. When investigators asked her what happened that night, her account painted a terrifying picture of the moments before Kayla was killed, and her description matched what surveillance cameras had already recorded.

>> We didn’t see anything. We didn’t even have like our windows down. >> Did anybody from your vehicle get down? >> No. >> So, >> we didn’t even like completely park. We had just barely pulled in and we saw what was going on. We were about to leave and they started shooting at us. >> By late May 2022, Albuquerque police had identified all five suspects.

 Now, investigators wanted to hear their versions of what happened, and the first person brought in was Diamond Salazar. >> Hi, Diamond. How are you? >> Good. How are you >> doing? Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Come on in. >> Diamond remained calm. If she was nervous, she did not show it. From the very beginning, she appeared determined to build her defense before any charges had even been filed.

>> I got robbed at gunpoint and it wasn’t really such a big thing. Just I got pistol whaled a few times and it was done after that. Nothing really serious happened. >> So, young lady, I got to I need you to be honest with me, okay? All right. because I know of another incident that took place after this that you were involved with. Okay.

 So, we can either go where you deny it all or you can be honest and tell me your side of story. >> I don’t know what you’re talking about. >> You don’t know at all? >> No. >> Okay. Even though I have you on video? >> No. >> No. Were you ever at the Maverick gas station? >> No, sir. >> Off of Comanche? >> No, sir. >> No, not at all. Mhm.

>> Giving you an opportunity here. I wanted to talk to you about that, okay? Cuz I know what happens and I know you didn’t shoot. So, this is an opportunity for you to be clean and tell me what happened. >> I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir. >> Yes, you do. I wouldn’t just be making this stuff up. >> I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Um, did you meet up with anybody else at that Maverick? >> I was never at that Maverick. >> Do you have a boyfriend named Stean? >> No. >> By that point, investigators already knew something Diamond did not want to discuss. They had uncovered evidence that she was in a relationship with a Stevian Luchero, one of the shooters.

But Diamond denied it. She denied the relationship. She denied key parts of the investigation. and she continued denying involvement even though detectives already had surveillance footage, phone records, and Cecilia’s statement. >> Now, you were in the white car sitting there.

 I know you were out talking, but when the actual shooting happens, you were in the white car. I just need to know what was the conversations like? What were you guys talking about? >> I don’t know what you’re talking about. >> Was it because of this? Is that why you called him to meet you up there? >> I don’t know what you’re talking about.

No, >> I never went to that gas station. >> You never? So, when I get proof that you were there and your phone was there, even though I don’t have your phone, what’s that going to tell me? >> I wasn’t there. >> Okay. And if you are there, then that’s going to show me that you’re lying. Correct. >> I wasn’t there.

>> So, you’re telling me, let me make sure. So you were at home, never went to the Maverick gas station on Comanche. >> No, sir. >> Okay. Were you around a shooting that night? >> No, sir. >> Were you with Estan that night? >> No, sir. >> Were you with Estean ever at a gas station like Maverick? >> No, sir. >> Diamond was determined to stick to her story.

 The question now was whether any of the others would do the same. So, detectives turned their attention to Tai Ashton Galagos. Unlike Diamond’s interview, this conversation began on a surprisingly relaxed note. >> How’s it going? Is it Tai? >> Yes. >> All right. My name is John. This is my partner, Leah. Um, every time we talk to people, we like to record our our conversations. Okay.

Sorry. That’s just our policy now. We have to record all of our conversations. How was that water? It was good. My mouth was dry. >> Your mouth feels dry. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Did you spit in it or what? >> Yeah. >> All right. You doing okay? >> No, I’m actually cold for some reason. >> Low iron. >> You’re what? You’re cold for And what did you say though after that? >> I’m low I >> low iron.

>> Low iron. Okay. Sorry. >> Same. I totally get you. I get really really cold too. >> Yeah. Right now, I guess I have a little bit more insulation than both of you. So, I’m a little bit right now doing okay. So, but it is kind of cold in here. >> But that changed the moment the real questioning began because Tai immediately made a request that caught everyone off guard.

>> So, um Ty, I want to talk to you about some some things, but um >> my mom to be here. I said, I need my mom to be here. >> You want your mom to be here? >> Yes. >> Okay. I’ve been asking, but they said I had a way to you guys. >> No, no, no problem. I’m going to I’m going to get your your full information first and then um get the number for your mom.

>> Ty wanted his mother. The request created an irony that was difficult to ignore. Just weeks earlier, a 7-year-old girl had watched her mother die in the passenger seat of an SUV. Now, one of the teenagers accused of causing that death was asking for his own mother to come help him.

 Tai’s mother arrived at the station shortly afterward. She appeared to believe she was dealing with the kind of trouble many parents eventually face with a teenager. What she did not yet understand was how serious the allegations against her son really were. >> So, I I’ll be very honest, okay? It is involving a shooting that took place at a gas station and we have extremely good video.

>> Okay. Do you know what I’m talking about? >> No. >> Not at all. >> No. >> Okay. Do you have any idea about any type of shooting or any type of incident that you your son was involved with? Ty because he was driving that vehicle? >> No. >> No. >> The interrogations yielded nothing. Diamond stuck to her story.

 Tai stuck to his. Neither was willing to place themselves at the Maverick gas station, but there was one person investigators believed might crack. Remember the connection investigators had uncovered between Diamond and one of the shooters? Estavian Lucero. He was Diamond’s boyfriend. Unlike Diamond, he did not deny the relationship when detectives asked about it.

>> What’s your girlfriend’s name? >> Oh, her name is um her name is Diamond. >> Diamond? Why was that difficult for you to say that? >> Because I don’t want to give you all my girlfriend name. >> I got you. All right. We’ll just keep it a diamond for now. Is that cool? Okay. So you were at Diamond’s house off of Kamachi.

>> Do you know more or less where I off Kamanche? >> No, I don’t. >> Okay. >> She she picked me up and then her mom and her picked me up and then I went to her house. >> Okay. How long have you been going out with Diamond? >> Uh like two weeks. >> About two weeks. What is uh What does Diamond look like? >> She’s She’s tall.

>> She’s tall. >> She has brown eyes. >> Brown eyes. She like >> her hair is darker, too. >> Okay. >> Not not super tall. >> Okay. So, as tall as you cuz you’re >> No, not as tall as me. Like >> Okay. So, she’s a little bit taller for a female. >> Yeah. >> Okay. And she has what? Dark eyes, brown eyes, you say? >> Brown eyes.

>> Okay. >> Darker hair. Like a darker brown. >> Okay. Dark dark brown. She pretty? >> Yeah. >> All right. You got to go for the pretty ones. >> But admitting the relationship was one thing. Admitting involvement in a murder was another. Like Diamond, Lucero denied participating in the shooting. He refused to give investigators anything that could help their case.

>> Tell me what you know. >> I’m That’s what I know. I told you the truth. >> Okay. >> I don’t have anything else to say. >> You weren’t involved with the shooting? >> Mm. >> Okay. Do you know about the shooting that I’m talking about? Did >> I seen it on the news? >> Okay. Did Ty talk to you about it? >> Do you know if Ty was involved? >> No.

>> Did you communicate with him on your phone? >> No. >> About it? >> No. >> No. >> What they did not know was that the police had evidence and an eyewitness account. Warrants were issued for Diamond Rain Salazar, Caprice Linda Sicilia, Ty Ashton Galagos, Adam Cado, and Estavan Damian Lutro. All five were charged with open murder, shooting at a motor vehicle, and conspiracy to commit murder, but charging them was only the beginning.

 Prosecutors still had to prove who was responsible for Caleb Montano’s death. Years passed as the case worked its way through the court system. Eventually, the prosecution decided to try all five defendants separately, a process that took more than 2 years to unfold. Then, prosecutors presented the three shooters with a choice.

 Taigos, Adam Sado, and avian Lucero. Each was offered a plea agreement. They could plead guilty to seconddegree murder and testify against Diamond Salazar. It was the kind of deal many defendants spend years hoping to receive. They turned it down. All three refused. Instead, they pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

 They accepted significantly longer prison sentences rather than testify against Diamond. At the time, it looked like a show of loyalty, but that decision would create a new challenge for prosecutors. Taiga Yagos was eventually sentenced to 10 years. Estevian Luchero received 22 years. Adam Sado received the maximum 10 years allowed under his plea agreement.

That left Diamond. And unlike the others, there was still one person who knew exactly what had happened from the very beginning. Caprice Siccilia. She had been there at Columbus Park. She had been in the parking lot. She had watched everything unfold. And prosecutors were about to make a decision that would change Diamond’s trial completely.

 In August 2024, prosecutors dismissed Siccilia’s charges. In exchange, she agreed to cooperate. Keep that in mind because it would become one of the most important developments in the entire case. Diamond Salazar’s trial opened on August 5th, 2024. Prosecutor Colin Brennan told jurors that Diamond set the night in motion.

 She made the call that destroyed Kayla Montano’s family. Instead of going to the authorities, she chose revenge. The defense pushed back. Diamond didn’t do anything wrong. Diamond never fired a gun, never asked anyone to shoot. She was still traumatized from Columbus Park and a woman in that state tracking a signal and surrounded by armed teenagers lacked the calm presence of mind.

 Prosecutors were implying Diamond couldn’t have stopped them. Legal responsibility for Kayla Montano’s death belonged to the people who pulled the triggers, not someone who pointed at a car she thought looked familiar. It was a coherent argument, and for a jury that hadn’t yet seen everything, it left room for doubt. But here’s what was coming next and what Diamond Salazar’s defense team could not fully neutralize.

Remember the deal that was made with Sicilia? It was for her to testify against Diamond. And here’s why Siccilia’s testimony mattered. She was there. She heard the words. She watched everything unfold. The defense, however, remained focused on the same argument. Diamond did not control the boys. But before jurors could decide which version they believed, something unexpected happened.

 Before prosecutors could finish presenting their case, Diamond Salazar made a decision that changed everything. She pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The first degree murder trial and the potential sentence of 30 or more years were over. Her attorney had spent months arguing that Diamond was not guilty of first-degree murder, but the plea told a different story.

 Diamond addressed the family. Kayla’s daughter doesn’t have a mom and it hurts me to know that she’s not going to be able to have her mom there for her during special times of her growing up. >> Before announcing the sentence, Judge Courtney Weeks addressed the facts of the case directly. >> But to say that you had a fight a fight response because you were trying to protect Diamond is not the entire picture of this story.

 And I know because I’ve heard the testimony of the detective. record the testimony of a lot of different witnesses. >> The court ultimately rejected the idea that Diamond was merely a bystander to what happened that night. Diamond Salazar was sentenced to 19 years in prison.