Young Park shooting defendants to be tried separately

LAS CRUCES — In a development that was not unexpected, the four defendants indicted on murder and conspiracy charges over a shootout at Young Park in March will be tried separately in 2026.

Attorneys for Tomas Rivas, 21; Nathan Rivas, 17; Gustavo Dominguez, 17; and Josiah Ontiveros, 16, all confirmed to state District Judge Douglas Driggers last week they would move for their clients to face individual jury trials rather than be tried together, and District Attorney Fernando Macias said he would not oppose the motions.

All four face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder following the March 21 shooting that killed Dominick Estrada, 19; Andrew “AJ” Madrid, 16; and Jason Gomez, 17. Fifteen others were injured in the chaos as gunfire erupted in a parking lot where a crowd had assembled to watch cars spin in circles surrounded by smoke and laser lights in a festive atmosphere that, in a matter of seconds, became the city’s worst mass-casualty event since 1990.

The motions to sever the defendants were discussed before Driggers at a hearing in 3rd Judicial District Court on Thursday. The hearing also addressed other matters ahead of trials scheduled to begin in February, including the challenge of seating enough jurors to hear four consecutive murder trials. Those are scheduled to extend from February to March at about a week apiece, in a case that drew nationwide publicity and escalated local debates about juvenile crime, the prevalence of firearms and police resources.

A single hearing to address all motions pending ahead of the trials is set for Nov. 21. It could be the last time all four defendants and their counsel appear together in court, requiring the district’s largest courtroom to accommodate them.

In a motion to separate Tomas Rivas from the other defendants, his counsel pointed to statements by both Rivas brothers incriminating other defendants, complicating each defendant’s prospects for a fair trial.

All four defendants are being held in custody while their cases are pending.

Nathan Rivas is also seeking dismissal of alternative charges included in the grand jury indictments charging the defendants on three counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, one for each fatality.

The indictments include three alternative counts of first-degree murder involving a “depraved mind,” as opposed to willful and deliberate murder. The former indicates “a depraved mind without regard for human life,” a distinction in New Mexico law that Rivas’ counsel argues does not require a specific intent to kill yet is still classified as a first-degree capital offense, unlike most other states.

Defense attorney Mark Earnest argues in the motion that applying the “depraved mind murder” charge to Rivas would be unconstitutional due to his age and current medical understanding of adolescent brain development and the ability of children to assess risk and regulate their behavior, as reflected in case history and recent legislation.

The issue bears on the potential sentencing if a jury opted to convict Rivas on the alternative charges.