The young woman was playing a scavenger hunt when she stumbled upon a real-life monster. The monster murdered another high school student just a few weeks ago. Strangely, prosecutors said both cases were cases of mistaken identity.
Just before midnight on October 18, 2019, Cayla Campos was playing Pokémon Go when she stumbled into the middle of an armed robbery in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The 21-year-old was playing an augmented reality game involving a treasure hunt with her boyfriend that fateful night.
Cayla was shot in the head when she attempted to flee the scene in her car, which then crashed into a nearby home.
Nearly five years later, her killer, Izaiah Garcia, was finally found guilty of numerous crimes, including first-degree murder.
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Last Thursday, Garcia was found guilty on all charges related to the 2019 incident.
Garcia, now 23, was 19 when Kayla was murdered. He was found guilty last week in Albuquerque on charges of first-degree murder, depraved mind murder, shooting from a car, armed robbery, assault with intent to commit a violent felony, tampering with evidence, child abuse and conspiracy.
“I am very proud that we were able to bring justice for Kayla’s family,” New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said in a press release. “I also know that nothing we achieve in court can heal their pain or replace the loss of our community.”
On that fateful night in October 2019, Cayla and her boyfriend were playing a game at a nearby park. Playing Pokémon Go in the area around her apartment was an almost nightly routine for the couple. But while searching for her digital creature to add to her collection, she stumbles upon a grim reality that will eventually cost her her own life.
Cayla and her boyfriend witnessed Garcia and an accomplice point guns at the three teenagers. when the couple attempted to flee in a car. Garcia believed they were criminal rivals and aimed his rifle at their vehicle, resulting in Kayla's life.
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“He intentionally killed Kayla Campos, but he did so thinking it was someone else,” Deputy Attorney General John Duran, the lead prosecutor on the case, said, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Meanwhile, Garcia is already serving a life sentence for another murder. Sean Markey, a 17-year-old high school student, was also murdered just weeks before Kayla's murder in 2019. He was convicted of prior murder in 2021.
According to prosecutors, both murders were cases of mistaken identity in which Garcia attempted to shoot another person.
For Cayla's murder, Garcia will likely receive another life sentence in addition to additional time for other crimes related to the case.
In New Mexico, the DA requires that the prisoner's sentences be consecutive because life sentences make him eligible for parole after 30 years.
CBS and Fox affiliate KRQE spoke with Cayla's father, Carl Campos. “We are very pleased with today’s ruling, but it will not bring Cayla back,” said Carl Campos.
“We know that. At least she got justice now.”
In a statement to the Albuquerque Journal, the grieving father said he had trouble getting out of bed the morning after his children were killed.
“That’s what happens when you bury a child,” he concluded.
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