Los Angeles police may have arrested the ex-husband Tuesday of a woman killed in her Commerce City condo Christmas Eve.
Police said Albert Gallegos, 32, may be involved in the death of 30-year-old Natisha Gallegos, a mother of three.
Tuesday afternoon, Commerce City authorities were contacted by police in Los Angeles who recovered the 1996 Pontiac Grand Am that Gallegos was believed to be driving. They also arrested a man in the car who had overdosed on some kind of drug, and were trying to determine whether it was Albert Gallegos, Commerce City police Detective Mike Saunders said.
“We’re very hopeful that it’s him, but we’re just waiting for a 100 percent positive ID because we don’t want to put the family through any more emotional hardship,” Saunders said.
Detectives were sending photographs and fingerprints to investigators in L.A., but the man’s physical condition in the hospital was slowing things down, Saunders said.
Natisha Gallegos was found dead at 11:48 a.m. Sunday. Investigators will not release the cause of death until the investigation is finished, Saunders said.
The couple has a 7-year-old daughter. Natisha Gallegos also was mother to two sons, ages 14 and 12, from an earlier relationship.
The children were not with their mother when she was killed. They spent Christmas “confused” about her death, family members said.
The relatives speculated that there was a dispute between the couple over visitation with their daughter.
Maureen Martinez, a cousin of Natisha Gallegos, said her family accepted Albert Gallegos despite issues the couple had.
“Like any couple – they had their ups and downs,” Martinez said.
Zahra Omar, 20, works at Haraf Foods Market next door to Natisha Gallegos’ condominium. Recently, she said, Albert Gallegos chased his ex-wife into the store with a knife.
One of Omar’s co-workers told her that Gallegos “was running after her (Natisha Gallegos) saying, ‘Where is she? Where is she?”‘
Omar said the co-worker allowed Natisha Gallegos to hide in a bathroom while he called 911.
Albert Gallegos has a history of domestic violence, including arrests for fighting in public, felony menacing and child abuse, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation database.
Saunders said Natisha Gallegos had a restraining order against her ex-husband.
A fund for Gallegos’ children has been established at the Denver Community Federal Credit Union, c/o the Natisha Sisneros-Gallegos Memorial Fund, 1075 Acoma St., Denver, CO 80204.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
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WORDS TO A MURDER SUSPECT:
“We know you went through hard times with Natisha.
Your daughter is suffering and those boys are suffering.”
Maureen Martinez, cousin of Natisha Gallegos, to her cousin’s ex-husband, Albert Gallegos.
