Nathan Rivas was the last of four defendants sentenced in the 2025 mass shooting that killed three people and injured 15 others

Organ Mountain News report

LAS CRUCES - Nathan Rivas was sentenced Friday to 90 years in prison for his role in the 2025 Young Park mass shooting that killed three people and injured 15 others, according to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Rivas was the final defendant to be sentenced in the case.

The March 21, 2025, shooting happened during an unsanctioned car meet at Young Park that drew hundreds of people. Investigators said an altercation between groups escalated into an exchange of gunfire. Dominick Estrada, 19, Andrew Madrid, 16, and Jason Gomez, 18, were killed. Fifteen other people were injured by gunfire or shrapnel.

With 18 total casualties, the Young Park shooting became the largest mass shooting in recent New Mexico history by total number of victims, though it was not the deadliest by fatality count.

Rivas, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, fired 13 rounds into the crowd, emptying a Glock 45, District Attorney Fernando Macias said.

“He easily could have run away without engaging, but he didn’t,” Macias said in a statement released Friday. “He turned around and started shooting into the crowd with complete disregard for the hundreds of people there.”

After the shooting, all four defendants got into a car driven by Rivas and went to El Paso before returning to Las Cruces to dispose of their weapons, according to the district attorney’s office.

Rivas is the last of the four defendants to receive a 90-year sentence. His brother, Tomas Rivas, along with Gustavo Dominguez and Josiah Ontiveros, also received three consecutive life sentences totaling 90 years each for their roles in the shooting.

“These sentences represent justice and accountability,” Macias said. “We hope this becomes an opportunity to re-educate our community and make better efforts to intervene to keep incidents like these from occurring in this community.”

The cases were prosecuted by Macias and Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Willson and investigated by the Las Cruces Police Department.