There are so many questions and so few answers about a true tragedy in the East Mountains.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A child is dead and his mother and sibling are fighting for their lives in a local hospital. The man allegedly responsible is the children’s father and the woman’s husband.
BCSO Sheriff John Allen said this is the type of case that will haunt deputies for the rest of their lives as they not only responded but also allegedly heard the tragedy unfold dispatch.
Deputies arrived to a home in the East Mountains early Tuesday morning and found a 4-year-old boy shot to death and his 1-year-old brother and mother fighting for their lives. They arrested Luis Sanchez at the scene.
“The likelihood of this being a singular, isolated incident is incredibly rare. This is not uncommon. I wasn’t surprised, and that’s what’s really disheartening,” New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence CEO MaryEllen Garcia said.
Sanchez has no criminal history, and the family doesn’t have any previous reports of domestic violence.
“We often in society have that knee jerk reaction to say, ‘Well, what did she do? Why did she not get an order of protection? Why did she not call the police?’” Garcia said.
But Garcia says the absence of a history on paper isn’t rare.
“70% of people who are experiencing violence in their homes are doing so behind closed doors, and there are a lot of reasons for that,” she said.
Garcia said one of those reasons is a complicated system that, while designed to help, can end up doing more harm.
“You call 911, and you are now forced to engage with law enforcement when all you might have wanted was for that individual to stop harming you, but now you’re forced to make a police report. That information no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the state of New Mexico, who’s going to prosecute that case,” Garcia said.
The victim in this case, prosecuted those very types of cases as an Assistant District Attorney in Bernalillo County. In fact, KOB 4 confirmed she was a panelist at an event for the coalition three years ago.
But domestic violence doesn’t discriminate and Garcia said this mother and her children are far from alone in this epidemic in our state.
“We’ve lost another human and we have two other individuals who are in critical condition as a result of violence within our homes. And it’s unfortunate because we see it all too often, and it’s a conversation that many people don’t want to have, and I think that’s part of the problem,” said Garcia.
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