Albuquerque woman charged with buying boyfriend an AR-15

An Albuquerque woman is facing federal charges after authorities say she bought an AR-15 for her boyfriend, who was on probation at the time and is accused of murder. Sierra Baca is charged with lying under oath and making a false statement while purchasing a firearm.

Baca’s boyfriend, Bonifacio Silva, was 18 when he was arrested in January for the deadly shooting of Tyler Jiron on the Isleta Pueblo in Bosque Farms. Silva faces a second-degree murder charge in that case.

Under oath during a hearing in Silva’s case, Baca said that before the shooting, she had only ever seen Baca with only one gun, an assault rifle that she owned. But when police searched her phone, they found photos of Silva at a gun range shooting a Glock handgun, and photos of them together, with Silva holding that same weapon in his waistband.

Text messages from last April also show Silva instructing Baca to attempt to buy the AR-15, giving her step-by-step instructions on what to ask various gun stores. Baca also posted a picture on her Snapchat story, showing her with at least $2,000 in cash and a caption saying she planned to buy her boyfriend an AR-15.

Police believe that gun could have been used in a non-fatal shooting from the summer of 2025 in Bosque Farms, in which investigators believe Silva fired 22 rounds into the house of a man he was having an argument with. Both Silva and Baca were people of interest in that investigation, though they were never arrested or charged.

A warrant is out for Baca’s arrest. A trial date has not yet been set in Silva’s murder case.