Inset: Elaina Gomez-Villeda (Albuquerque police). Background: Officers investigate after Gomez-Villeda’s 10-year-old son allegedly shot and killed a 16-year-old girl in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (KOAT/YouTube).
A New Mexico mother is jailed after police say her 10-year-old son fatally shot a 16-year-old girl during a confrontation over loud music at an Albuquerque apartment complex.
Elaina Gomez-Villeda faces charges including murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, negligently allowing a minor access to a firearm, battery and receiving stolen property, according to jail records.
The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Tennessee Street in Albuquerque. A criminal complaint obtained by local ABC affiliate KOAT said Gomez-Villeda went to a neighboring apartment to complain about the volume of the music. The victim was identified as Keinerlein Rangel.
Police said the dispute escalated into a fistfight involving Gomez-Villeda, Rangel and Rangel’s mother. During the altercation, the 10-year-old allegedly tried to intervene, and his mother instructed him to “retrieve a gun from their apartment,” investigators wrote.
The boy allegedly returned outside with the firearm and fired at least one shot at Rangel, killing her, before he and Gomez-Villeda went back into the apartment.
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When officers arrived, they heard a gunshot coming from inside the unit. Gomez-Villeda then allegedly emerged carrying a firearm. An officer fired at her but missed. She dropped the weapon and was taken into custody.
During questioning, Gomez-Villeda told investigators that she had fired the shot inside the apartment. She claimed Rangel’s father was attempting to force his way into the unit and said she had called 911.
“I thought we were gonna die; these people, they do it a lot, and I didn’t think I was gonna be the target, but it is what it is,” she said, according to ABQRaw.com.
According to the criminal complaint, she also texted her husband: “I’m probably going to jail right now.”
Authorities have not yet decided whether to pursue criminal charges against the 10-year-old boy. Gomez-Villeda remains held without bond at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
