Rodeo community, families grieve loss of two bull riders and close friend killed in Las Vegas house fire

LAS VEGAS — Three Las Vegas families and the wider New Mexico rodeo community are in mourning after two bull riders and their close friend, all in their early 20s, were killed in a house fire early Saturday morning on Pecos Street.

Tammy Lepp, who co-founded and owns TA Rodeo in Alamosa, Colorado, identified the three young adults killed in the blaze as 22-year-old Austin Apodaca, 21-year-old Geno Gonzales and 21-year-old Desiree Trujillo.

She said Apodaca and Gonzales were regular competitors in the bull riding event for TA’s summer rodeo circuit, which she and her husband host annually in New Mexico towns like Raton, Springer and Mescalero.

Together, the trio of Las Vegas friends formed a close bond over the classic Spanish-Mexican Southwestern rodeo tradition, which has long maintained a small but passionate community in New Mexico and a dedicated rural fanbase.

“They would come out and have a good weekend,” Lepp said. “The girls go and support the guys and videotape them. They’d camp out, have fun. This was just a really, really good group of kids.”

Las Vegas Fire Department responded to the blaze just after 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning in the 1300 Block of Pecos Street, where they discovered smoke and flames pouring from the home, according to a City of Las Vegas Facebook post, which did not identify the victims.

After suppression efforts began, two occupants were recovered during an initial search inside the home and were ultimately pronounced dead at the scene after resuscitation efforts proved unsuccessful. A third victim was later located by personnel from the New Mexico State Fire Marshal, which was still investigating the cause of the fatal fire as of Monday evening.

“These incidents are devastating to our community and impact a large portion of our residents,” part of the press release reads.

Speaking with the Journal Monday afternoon, Antonette Apodaca described her son as “a very outgoing boy. He was caring, he was loving. He was full of life. He was always with a smile. He was always our jokester. He was a very hard worker.”

She said her son was the youngest of three children and worked for the New Mexico Department of Transportation on a road maintenance crew in District 4, which encompasses Las Vegas and surrounding areas in southeastern New Mexico.

“He always looked forward to winning a bull riding buckle at all the rodeos, and he wanted to advance in his DOT career,” Apodaca continued. “It'll be a great impact in our family. He will be deeply missed by family, friends, our community. Our relationship — Austin was my pride and joy. He was the baby of our family. We're a very close-knit family.”

Patrick Trujillo said his daughter was an “amazing child” who was on the path to success after graduating from Robertson High School in Las Vegas and Luna Community College in San Miguel County.

“She graduated school with no issues,” he said. “She graduated college with no issues. We were already building her a home. She was 21 and she was gonna have her own home property, everything. We're gonna build her a business. She was, she was heading in the right direction, that's for sure.”

A candlelight vigil is scheduled for 7 p.m. this Sunday, March 15, at Their Get Together House, 1303 Pecos St., according to Apodacada. She said the gathering is open to the public.

John Miller is the Albuquerque Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.