YOU’RE WATCHING KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS. KOAT NOW HAS THE VIDEO AND INTERROGATIONS OF FOUR OF THE SUSPECTS CHARGED IN THE MURDER OF EDEN ROCK OUTSIDE UNM. AFTER COMBING THROUGH THE INTERVIEWS, WE DISCOVERED NEW INSIGHT INTO THE ALLEGED PLOT AND THE SUSPECTS EXPLANATIONS TO INVESTIGATORS. KOAT GETTING A LOOK INSIDE THE INTERROGATION ROOM WITH TEN YARD WEEKLY. EVAN ROGERS, JUNIOR LEWIS AND JALEN HOPEWELL. IT WAS A DOME. IT WAS A DOME PLAN. WHATEVER THE HELL THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO DO. WHATEVER LED TO WHATEVER LED TO WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, STONE. ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 15TH, POLICE SAY EDEN ROCK WAS SET UP JUST OUTSIDE A FRONTIER RESTAURANT IN ALBUQUERQUE. THE KEY TO OLMSTED, WHO WAS ALSO CHARGED WITH AN OPEN COUNT OF MURDER, MET WITH ROCK AT FRONTIER. SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE SHOWS THEM TALKING FOR 40 MINUTES. OLMSTED, LEADING ROCK DOWN AN ALLEYWAY. THE FOUR SUSPECTS WERE SEEN ON SURVEILLANCE VIDEO GETTING OUT OF A GRAY JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE AND HIDING BEHIND A DUMPSTER. THE MEN ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED ROCK AND KNOCKED HIM DOWN. WEEKLEY ADMITTED TO FIRING A FATAL GUNSHOT AT ROCK ON HIS BODY THAT YOU SHOT HIM. I SHOT HIM, I BELIEVE IT WAS SOMEWHERE UP HERE. BUT WHERE DID THIS ALL BEGIN? THE SUSPECTS TELL INVESTIGATORS EDEN ROCK WAS THREATENING WEEKLY. CONFIRMED PLANS AGAINST THE CHICAGO SAID HE’S GOING TO KILL MY PEOPLE. I GUESS HE WAS THREATENING. THREATENING? TEAM. OKAY. AND THEY ARGUED FOR ABOUT 14 HOURS THAT DAY. YESTERDAY, HE WAS RIDING AROUND UNM CAMPUS SAYING HE WAS GOING TO KILL. HE WAS GOING TO KILL HIM. HE WAS GOING TO KILL US. THE SUSPECTS TOLD INVESTIGATORS THEY WERE ONLY EXPECTING A SCUFFLE. WE WERE JUST SUPPOSED TO CONFRONT HIM LIKE, BE LIKE, HEY, LIKE, CHILL, LIKE, YOU KNOW, LIKE, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? SAYING IT HAPPENED FAST. I DIDN’T REALLY I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I JUST HEARD IT POP, POP. AND THAT’S WHAT I, THAT’S WHAT I TURNED INTO. GRAND WEEKLY SAID HE FIRED OFF A SHOT AFTER HE SAW ROCK REACH FOR A GUN. HE STARTED DOING THIS SAWMILL. AND THEN HE HIT THE GROUND. WE TUSSLED. A SHOT WENT OFF, AND THEN I WON. I JUST REMEMBER I HAD THE GUN LIKE THIS, AND I SHOT AGAIN. JUNIOR LEWIS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN’T SPEAK TO INVESTIGATORS AND ASKED FOR A LAWYER. I’M NOT HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH. KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING? AND AS FOR ZAKIA OLMSTED, WHO MET WITH ROCK AT FRONTIER, SHE’S WEEKLY’S BEST FRIEND, TOLD DETECTIVES THE MEETING WAS ONLY ABOUT OLMSTED’S DRUG DEALING BUSINESS, AND HE INSISTED THAT SHE HAD NO ROLE IN THE INCIDENT. ALL HE KNEW WAS SHE WAS GOING TO TALK TO ME AND BY 22, THAT W
Interrogation footage details shooting of man outside restaurant near UNM
Four suspects in deadly shooting outside Frontier Restaurant tell Albuquerque detectives they only planned a fight following alleged threats
KOAT obtained video and interrogation footage of four suspects charged in the murder of Eden Rock near the University of New Mexico. The interviews provide new insight into the alleged plot and the explanations given to investigators by Tenard Weekly, Evan Rogers, Junior Lewis, and Jaylen Hopewell.The incident occurred on Wednesday, May 15, when police say Rock was set up just outside of the Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque. Surveillance footage shows Zaakiya Umstead, who is also charged with an open count of murder, talking with Rock at the restaurant for 40 minutes before leading him down an alleyway.Video footage then shows four men getting out of a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee and hiding behind a dumpster. The men allegedly attacked Rock and knocked him down. Weekly admitted to investigators that he fired the fatal shot. When asked where on the body he shot Rock, Weekly told detectives, “Um, I shot him. I believe it was somewhere up here.”The suspects told investigators the confrontation stemmed from Rock threatening Weekly. Weekly claimed Rock had “confirmed plane tickets to Chicago saying he was going to go kill my people.” Rogers told police, “I guess he was threatening Tim, and they argued for about 14 hours that day, yesterday.” Hopewell added that Rock “was riding around on campus saying he was going to kill, he was going to kill Tim, he was going to kill us.”Despite the fatal outcome, the suspects told investigators they were only expecting a physical “scuffle.” Rogers said, “We were just supposed to confront him, like, be like, A, like chill, like you know, like, why are you doing this?”Hopewell described the shooting as happening quickly, stating, “I didn’t really, I didn’t know what happened. I just heard pop, pop. And that’s what I, that’s what I turned into the rant.” Hopewell also described the overall situation by saying, “It was just a dumb plan. It was dumb. It was a dumb plan. Whatever the hell that they were like trying to do, whatever, like led to whatever led to whatever. It was dumb.”Weekly told detectives he fired because he saw Rock reach for a weapon. “He swung by me. And then, he hit the ground, we tussled, a shot went off, and then I won. I just remember I had the gun like this. And I shot again,” Weekly said.Junior Lewis was the only suspect who declined to speak with investigators. During his interview, he told detectives, “I’m not having a conversation with you,” and requested a lawyer.Weekly also addressed the involvement of Umstead, whom he described as his best friend. He insisted she had no role in the murder and that her meeting with Rock was related to her drug-dealing business. Weekly told detectives, “All Z knew was she was going to talk to Benz, and we gave her a ride to Frontiers. That was all Z knew.”
KOAT obtained video and interrogation footage of four suspects charged in the murder of Eden Rock near the University of New Mexico. The interviews provide new insight into the alleged plot and the explanations given to investigators by Tenard Weekly, Evan Rogers, Junior Lewis, and Jaylen Hopewell.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, May 15, when police say Rock was set up just outside of the Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque. Surveillance footage shows Zaakiya Umstead, who is also charged with an open count of murder, talking with Rock at the restaurant for 40 minutes before leading him down an alleyway.
Video footage then shows four men getting out of a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee and hiding behind a dumpster. The men allegedly attacked Rock and knocked him down. Weekly admitted to investigators that he fired the fatal shot. When asked where on the body he shot Rock, Weekly told detectives, “Um, I shot him. I believe it was somewhere up here.”
The suspects told investigators the confrontation stemmed from Rock threatening Weekly. Weekly claimed Rock had “confirmed plane tickets to Chicago saying he was going to go kill my people.” Rogers told police, “I guess he was threatening Tim, and they argued for about 14 hours that day, yesterday.” Hopewell added that Rock “was riding around on campus saying he was going to kill, he was going to kill Tim, he was going to kill us.”
Despite the fatal outcome, the suspects told investigators they were only expecting a physical “scuffle.” Rogers said, “We were just supposed to confront him, like, be like, A, like chill, like you know, like, why are you doing this?”
Hopewell described the shooting as happening quickly, stating, “I didn’t really, I didn’t know what happened. I just heard pop, pop. And that’s what I, that’s what I turned into the rant.” Hopewell also described the overall situation by saying, “It was just a dumb plan. It was dumb. It was a dumb plan. Whatever the hell that they were like trying to do, whatever, like led to whatever led to whatever. It was dumb.”
Weekly told detectives he fired because he saw Rock reach for a weapon. “He swung by me. And then, he hit the ground, we tussled, a shot went off, and then I won. I just remember I had the gun like this. And I shot again,” Weekly said.
Junior Lewis was the only suspect who declined to speak with investigators. During his interview, he told detectives, “I’m not having a conversation with you,” and requested a lawyer.
Weekly also addressed the involvement of Umstead, whom he described as his best friend. He insisted she had no role in the murder and that her meeting with Rock was related to her drug-dealing business. Weekly told detectives, “All Z knew was she was going to talk to Benz, and we gave her a ride to Frontiers. That was all Z knew.”
