Elaina Gomez-Villeda, 40, has been arrested and charged with murder after her 10-year-old son fatally shot a teenage neighbor during an altercation over loud music in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The incident unfolded last Friday afternoon in a southeast Albuquerque apartment complex when Gomez-Villeda confronted neighbors about their music volume, according to police. The dispute escalated into a physical fight between Gomez-Villeda and 16-year-old Keinerlein Rangel.
During the brawl, Gomez-Villeda instructed her young son to retrieve her handgun, authorities said. The boy returned with the weapon and shot Rangel, killing her. The child, who has not been identified due to his age, has not been charged, though detectives are working with the district attorney to determine potential criminal charges given his age.
Gomez-Villeda sent a text message to her husband in the aftermath of the shooting. “I’m probably going to jail right now,” she wrote, according to police.
While Gomez-Villeda was on the phone with 911 reporting the incident, Keinerlein’s father attempted to break down her apartment door and smashed a window, police said. Gomez-Villeda then grabbed a firearm and fired at the enraged father, she told investigators.
“I thought we were gonna die,” Gomez-Villeda told police, according to reports. “These people, they do it a lot, and I didn’t think I was gonna be the target, but it is what it is.”
When Albuquerque Police Department officers arrived around 4 p.m., they observed someone shooting from inside the apartment and took cover. Officers reported that Gomez-Villeda was holding a gun while chasing three people outside. One officer fired at Gomez-Villeda but missed.
Gomez-Villeda was taken into custody and photographed with a visible red wound under her left eye in her booking photo. She faces multiple charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, negligently making a firearm accessible to a minor, misdemeanor battery, and receiving stolen property.
The shooting remains under investigation by Albuquerque police.