Young Park victim's family sues city and accused shooters

LAS CRUCES — The 2025 car meetup in the parking lot of a large city park that erupted in gunfire — one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent state history — should never have taken place, according to a newly filed lawsuit.

The family of Jason Gomez, one of the victims in the Young Park shootout, has brought a wrongful-death lawsuit naming the city along with one recently convicted shooter and three other defendants.

The lawsuit alleges the city, Las Cruces Police Department and the city’s Parks and Recreation department all failed to secure the premises, allowing the unsanctioned car meet to occur in the facility’s parking lot on March 21, 2025.

A crowd of well more than 100 people gathered that night to watch cars spin donuts, burn out their tires and raise smoke in a festive atmosphere. Multiple bystander videos show people venturing close to spinning automobiles to film the scene while others used laser lights to create displays through the smoke, including at least one individual with a laser sight affixed to a rifle.

This was the scene when a shootout occurred that claimed the lives of Dominick Estrada, 19; and bystanders Andrew “AJ” Madrid, 16 and Gomez, 17. More than a dozen people were wounded, on top of the fatalities in the city’s worst mass casualty event since 1990.

Tomas Rivas, 21, was convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month.  His younger brother, Nathan Rivas, 18, is currently on trial while the other defendants, Josiah Ontiveros, 16, and Gustavo Dominguez, 18, are scheduled for murder trials of their own in the coming months.

“The City failed to implement sufficient safety measures, such as increased security, timely gate closures and maintenance, and/or adequate lighting, to keep the public safe from the known risk posed by recurring unsanctioned events, including car meetups,” states the lawsuit filed Thursday in 3rd Judicial District Court.

The complaint makes claims against the city for alleged negligent operation of a public premises, failure to provide law enforcement service and to enforce permitting and park regulations.

The lawsuit also names the Rivas brothers, Ontiveros and Dominguez as having “negligently and recklessly discharged firearms in a crowded public park,” causing Gomez’s death.

The police investigation and evidence presented at the Rivas brothers’ trials has shown that multiple other shooters fired their weapons as well, but District Attorney Fernando Marcias has presented the four defendants as aggressors who went to the park with a plan to kill Estrada. Gomez was not involved in the dispute.

Tomas Rivas was convicted of murder for all three deaths despite arguing on the witness stand that he fired at Estrada in self-defense and that no bullets traced to his weapon had struck Gomez or Madrid.

The Gomez estate’s lawsuit argues the city failed to assign “sufficient officers, patrols, or security measures” and thus allowed the shooters “to discharge firearms into a crowded public area without deterrence, intervention, or timely response.”

In the hours following the shooting, neighbors of the park’s S. Walnut Street entrance told Journal reporters that they had complained to the city that the car meets created noise, burning smells and safety concerns. They said that previous gatherings had been dispersed by police, but not that night.

Police Chief Jeremy Story said during a news conference that weekend, “In a perfect world where I had 220 police officers like I’m supposed to, it probably would have been different last night, but I had no units available for most of the night prior to the shooting.”

Since the shooting, a surveillance camera has been installed near the park as part of a nearly $2 million real time crime center that uses surveillance cameras and license plate readers installed throughout the city under contract with Flock Safety. The surveillance systems have drawn questions from community members and some elected officials about the use of surveillance data, while Story and Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart have said the system helps solve crimes and emergency response.

Last month, the city introduced its first team of city park rangers who will rotate shifts seven days per week at city parks, to provide a security presence and respond to minor issues or emergencies at the parks as a way to free up commissioned officers. 

At a news conference introducing the rangers, Story said, “We don’t have enough police officers. … Anything we can do to supplement that and still keep the same level of service, or higher, is a win.” Although last year’s shootout was not discussed, the announcement took place at Young Park.

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and legal costs under New Mexico’s wrongful death and tort laws.

The city declined to comment on the pending litigation. Further proceedings have not yet been scheduled.

A sentencing hearing for Tomas Rivas, where he faces life in prison, has yet to be scheduled. Nathan Rivas, who was a juvenile at the time of the shooting, was in court for the opening of his trial on Thursday. It is scheduled to run for seven days. He is facing three charges of first-degree murder and a count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Algernon D’Ammassa is the Journal’s southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.