One of the two men accused of brutally slaying a teenager on the outskirts of Santa Fe in 2023 took the stand Tuesday to testify against his onetime friend and accused accomplice.

Giovanny Salvidar-Nicolas, 21 — who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in July — testified in state District Court both he and Edgar Robies Escudero, 25, were also once friends with the victim, 17-year-old Eduardo Preciado Luevano.

The three used to go to "the movies" together — which really meant hanging out and drinking in a Cerrillos Road parking lot outside a closed movie theater, which is a popular gathering spot for some of the city's young people, he said.

But Luevano had begun beating him up — not horseplay, closed-fist punches — and Escudero told him th

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