New Mexico Mother Charged After 10-Year-Old Son Allegedly Shot 16-Year-Old Neighbor in Noise Dispute
A 40-year-old mother in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been charged after allegedly sending her 10-year-old son to fetch her handgun, with the boy then shooting a 16-year-old neighbor dead. The shooting happened at about 4 p.m. on October 31, 2026, at an apartment building in the 200 block of Tennessee Street NE, after a dispute over loud music.
According to an Albuquerque Police Department criminal complaint, Elaina Gomez-Villeda first went to complain about the music and scuffled with neighbor Susana Rangel and Rangel's daughter, Keinerlein Rangel, whose family had recently moved in. The complaint says Gomez-Villeda sent her 10-year-old son inside to get her handgun, and the boy returned and fired one shot, killing Keinerlein Rangel.
The complaint says Gomez-Villeda then took the boy back inside, texted her husband "I'm probably going to jail right now," and called 911. She was arrested on November 1 and faces charges including an open count of murder, conspiracy, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, negligent access to a firearm by a minor, battery and receiving stolen property. Police found improperly stored firearms inside the apartment and a revolver outside that had been reported stolen in Santa Fe.
The boy has not been charged and was taken into the custody of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department; the Second Judicial District Attorney's Office is considering whether he can be prosecuted given his age. At a November 6 detention hearing, prosecutors played surveillance video and Detective Chase Jewell testified that a recording captured the mother telling her son to get the gun; defense attorney Roberta Yurcic disputed that reading. A judge ordered Gomez-Villeda held without bail.
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：新墨西哥州阿尔伯克基市中心航拍（资料图）。图：formulanone，CC BY-SA 2.0，经维基共享资源 / Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico (file photo). Photo by formulanone, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
