In a tragic culmination of a 2022 homicide, Martin Caballero-Diaz, 30, was sentenced to 21 years in the New Mexico Department of Corrections on October 1, 2025, after pleading guilty to 2nd Degree Murder in the killing of his mother, 57-year-old Joann Caballero.
The sentence, handed down by District Court Judge Benjamin Cross, includes enhancements for Caballero-Diaz being a habitual offender and for the discharge of a firearm during the commission of the crime. Under New Mexico state law, Caballero-Diaz will be required to serve at least 18 years before becoming eligible for parole.
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Details of the Crime
The shocking crime took place on the evening of August 24, 2022. Officers with the Clovis Police Department responded to a request for a welfare check at a residence at 1216 ½ N. Lea Street.
Upon arrival, they made the grim discovery of Joann Caballero’s body, concealed beneath a pile of clothing. An autopsy later confirmed she had suffered two fatal gunshot wounds.
Caballero-Diaz was found and detained without incident in a bathroom at the adjoining front residence, 1216 N. Lea Street.
The subsequent investigation was led by the Major Crimes Unit, a joint task force comprising the Curry and Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Offices, Clovis and Portales Police Departments, and investigators from the Ninth District Attorney’s Office.
At the scene, investigators recovered crucial evidence, including spent shell casings and a pistol. Ballistics testing by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety confirmed the pistol was the murder weapon, and DNA analysis directly linked the firearm to Caballero-Diaz.
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Family’s Emotional Impact
The courtroom was filled with sorrow as members of the victim’s family delivered emotional victim impact statements during the sentencing.
Destiney Caballero, the victim’s daughter and the defendant’s sister, expressed the profound betrayal and pain felt by the family. “There are no words that can fully capture the pain of losing my mom,” she shared, “but it is even harder to accept when her life was taken by the very person she loved, raised, and trusted.”
Lisa Baca, Joann Caballero’s sister, remembered the victim’s compassionate nature. “Joann was a kind-hearted and compassionate person who always put others before herself. Her sudden and violent death has left a void in our lives that can never be filled.”
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