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Accused Young Park shooters plead not guilty
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LAS CRUCES — Doña Ana County District Attorney Fernando Macias alleges the four young men accused of killing three people at a car meetup in Young Park came to the event with the intent to do harm.
“They arrived all together. They were there, I think — for what the evidence is showing us — was for the intent to commit crimes against other individuals,” Macias told reporters outside 3rd District Court Monday.
Each of the accused gunmen in the March 21 shooting pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Monday morning, following a grand jury indictment last week.
Tomas Rivas, 20, faces three counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, as do each of the three juvenile defendants: Gustavo Dominguez, 17; Nathan Rivas, 17; and Josiah Ontiveros, 15. The minors are being tried as adults in this case. All four remain in custody without bond.
Gunfire erupted at about 10 p.m. as a crowd estimated around 200 gathered in front of the city park for an informal car show. While most of the crowd was focused on a blue Mustang spinning donuts in the parking lot, witnesses said a dispute between two groups of men turned into a hail of bullets. Police would later recover 59 rounds of .45 and 9mm caliber bullet casings. Fifteen people were wounded, either from gunfire or shrapnel, and three were killed: Dominick Estrada, 19; Andrew “AJ” Madrid, 16; and Jason Gomez, 17.
From mobile videos and witness interviews, Las Cruces police, assisted by federal agencies, quickly focused on the four suspects and took them into custody less than 36 hours after the shooting.
For now, the four defendants’ cases have been joined, and Macias — who presented the case himself to state District Judge Manuel Arrieta — said he hoped to see a conclusion to their trial before the end of summer.
