Brother Murdered While Saving Little Brother from Snapchat Catfish
Elias Otero was murdered in cold blood in front of his house on the 11th of February 2021. Anna Bella Dukes, 18, a woman his brother had met online, was arrested for her part in the homicide of 24-year-old Elias, a former corrections officer from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Elias was trying to protect his little brother from Dukes and her accomplice boyfriend, Adrian Avila, 17, along with two other suspects. The group had kidnapped and carjacked 20-year-old Nicholas Otero.
Elias ended up paying the ultimate price to save his brother’s life.
Nicholas had met Anna Dukes online and struck up a relationship. The relationship was not mutual as Dukes was only using the young man to steal money and valuables from him. She conspired with her accomplices to lure Nicholas, whom she had met on Snapchat, to a park on the morning of February 11th, 2021. The group was planning to rob him.
Nicholas picked her up in his car, a red Lexus. She told him to drive her to local Alvarado Park where the other men were waiting to ambush him. When they got there, a car drove up behind them and Nicholas was forcefully removed from the Lexus. He was robbed of everything he had, but it wasn’t enough. The kidnappers wanted more.
Dukes, Avila, and two other male suspects decided to kidnap him for ransom.
But the plot didn’t go down as they had planned.
The Otero family lived in Southwest Albuquerque and Elias was home at the time he received a FaceTime from his younger brother, but it wasn’t the usual chat.
Nicholas was being held at gunpoint as the perpetrators demanded valuables like cash and jewelry. They forced Nicholas to call Elias to tell him that they had his little brother hostage, and they wanted a ransom for his safe return. They threatened to shoot Nicholas if he didn’t comply.
Nicholas was forced to beg his brother for $1,000 in ransom money. The suspects were armed with an AK-47 that they threatened to use against Nicholas if Elias didn’t give them what they were asking for.
