Mom Sends 10-Year-Old Son for Gun During Neighbor Fight Over Loud Music, 16-Year-Old Girl Killed
A New Mexico mother asked her neighbors to turn down their music. Minutes later, police say she sent her 10-year-old son to get a gun while she fought with them. The boy opened fire, leaving a 16-year-old girl dead.
The Halloween shooting happened outside an apartment complex in Albuquerque on October 31. Elaina Gomez-Villeda, 40, had just returned from an event with her son when the dispute began.
Security footage later shown in court captured the fight and the boy standing near his apartment door with a handgun. Detective Chase Jewell testified that Gomez-Villeda warned the people around her that her son was going to shoot someone.
Now facing murder and child abuse charges, Gomez-Villeda remains in jail without bond. Her attorney argues that she never told the boy to fire, raising a key question about what she intended when she sent him for the weapon.
A Deadly Warning
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The confrontation began around 4 p.m. at an apartment complex on Tennessee Street. According to a criminal complaint described by the Albuquerque Journal, Gomez-Villeda knocked on her neighbors’ door and asked them to lower their music.
A short time later, 16-year-old Keinerlein Rangel and her mother were outside installing a security camera. Rangel’s mother told police that Gomez-Villeda confronted them again and began throwing punches.
Both children became involved as the fight grew. Police say Gomez-Villeda told her son to go inside and retrieve a handgun.
“He’s going to shoot you. Look, he’s going to shoot someone,” Gomez-Villeda warned, according to Jewell’s testimony.
The detective told the court that Gomez-Villeda then threw Rangel’s mother to the ground, separating her from the teenager.
As shown in the security footage reported by KOAT, the boy stood near the apartment entrance and fired toward the fight. His first shot missed, but the second struck Rangel, killing her.
Back Inside
Gomez-Villeda took her son into their apartment after the shooting. According to the police complaint, she texted her husband, “I’m probably going to jail right now,” before calling 911.
Outside, Rangel’s father tried to get through the apartment door and broke a window. Gomez-Villeda told police she fired another gun to frighten him away because she feared for her safety.
Officers arriving at the complex also reported gunfire coming from the apartment. When Gomez-Villeda later stepped outside holding a weapon, an officer fired toward her but missed. She then surrendered.
Police recovered the handgun used in Rangel’s death and found it had been reported stolen in Santa Fe. Investigators also discovered several unsecured firearms inside Gomez-Villeda’s home.
The Courtroom Fight
At a November 6 hearing, defense attorney Roberta Yurcic challenged the prosecution’s account. She argued that Gomez-Villeda had been attacked during the fight and never instructed her son to shoot.
“She never tells him to shoot,” Yurcic told the court.
Legal expert John Day, speaking to ABC News, said prosecutors would need to examine what the mother intended and what her son understood her instructions to mean.
Judge Joseph Montaño was troubled by how easily the child handled the revolver. He questioned whether any release conditions could protect the public and ordered Gomez-Villeda held without bond.
She faces murder, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and several other charges.
The 10-year-old had not been charged as of November 12. Albuquerque police were working with the district attorney’s office and state officials to determine whether criminal charges could apply because of his age.
