Suspect in Frontier Restaurant killing charged in second murder

Jaylen Hopewell now faced a second murder charge, tying him to two separate killings in central Albuquerque within three months. Court records filed in New Mexico court and described by investigators linked Hopewell to the March stabbing death of Genovevo Rodriguez-Resendiz near Locust Street and Central Avenue, after he had already been charged in the May killing of 23-year-old Eden Rock behind Frontier Restaurant.

Police said Hopewell matched a person of interest from the Rodriguez-Resendiz homicide investigation, and that connection emerged while investigators were arresting suspects in the Frontier case. A search of Hopewell’s cellphone allegedly turned up internet queries about serial killers, how long it takes to bleed out, and news coverage of the stabbing. Those digital traces added a second layer to a case already marked by coordinated violence and overlapping law-enforcement scrutiny.

The Frontier killing unfolded on May 13, 2026, after Rock met Zakiya Umstead at the restaurant, just west of the University of New Mexico. Court records say surveillance video showed four people getting out of a gray Jeep, hiding behind a dumpster, and attacking Rock as he passed by. Investigators said two gunshots were heard during the attack. Police also said Hopewell and three others were hiding in an alleyway near Frontier when the video showed them moving in on Rock.

Umstead, who police say walked away calmly during the shooting, was later arrested in Houston, Texas. The other named suspects in the Frontier case are Tenard Weekly, Evan Rogers, Junior Lewis and Hopewell. All five remain in custody pending trial after Judge Joseph Montano granted pretrial detention.

The two cases now run on separate tracks but are increasingly connected by the same name, the same investigators and a pattern of suspected premeditation. One homicide unfolded behind a busy restaurant near the University of New Mexico; the other took place in March at Locust Street and Central, a corridor that has long carried some of the city’s heaviest traffic and most visible public-safety concerns. With Hopewell now charged in both deaths, the court record points to a broader web of violence in Albuquerque rather than two isolated attacks.