Xavier Zamora Sentenced to 22 Years for the 2019 Murder of USPS Letter Carrier

Washington, D.C. – Xavier Zamora, 21, of Albuquerque, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the murder of United States Postal Service Letter Carrier José Hernandez in 2019. Zamora pled guilty on June 8, 2022, to second-degree murder of an employee of the United States and using a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death.

According to court records, on April 22, 2019, Hernandez was delivering mail to a community mailbox on Terracotta Place SW in Albuquerque when he was caught up in an argument outside the home of Zamora’s mother. When the argument between Zamora and his mother turned physical, Hernandez attempted to intervene. Zamora then turned his attack to Hernandez, striking the letter carrier and pushing him down.

When Hernandez recovered and advanced on his attacker, Zamora ran back into the house, retrieved a handgun, and followed Hernandez back to his postal vehicle. Hernandez turned again to face Zamora, and Zamora shot him in the stomach from a distance. Hernandez collapsed near his vehicle. Zamora retreated to the house and fled through the backyard.
U.S. Postal Inspectors from the Albuquerque Domicile responded to find first responders from Albuquerque Police Department (APD) on the scene. Despite the heroic efforts of civilians, law enforcement officers, and emergency personnel, Hernandez died shortly after Zamora shot him.

On April 24, 2019, two days after the shooting, police found Zamora hiding out in a home about five minutes from where he shot Hernandez. He was arrested on a New Mexico state warrant, then transferred to the custody of U.S. Postal Inspectors who arrested him on the federal charge Title 18 USC § 1114, murder of an officer or employee of the United States. The firearm used in the murder has never been located.

Hernandez was a husband, father of four, and a United States Army combat veteran who served his country and sought to live his life as a positive member of the community.
“This significant sentence will take a violent offender off the street and, hopefully, provide the Hernandez family some measure of justice and a sense of relief,” said Dominique Giroux, acting inspector in charge of the Phoenix Division of the Postal Inspection Service. “This type of senseless violence is something no family or community should have to face. I’m grateful to our fellow local and federal law enforcement partners who assisted on this case.”

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service would like to thank our law enforcement partners, the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, Albuquerque Police Department, and New Mexico State Police for their assistance in the investigation, as well as the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico for their efforts prosecuting the case.