Prosecutors say the 20-year-old, who has pending felony cases in Texas, opened fire inside the family’s home while several relatives were asleep

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

SANTA TERESA - A 20-year-old man from Santa Teresa has been charged with aggravated battery and attempted murder after authorities say he shot his mother 11 times inside their home while four other relatives, including a child, were asleep.

According to court documents, Kevin Marin was arrested Oct. 13 after Sunland Park police responded to reports of a shooting at a home on Ashwood Drive. Investigators said Marin’s mother was found bleeding heavily in the hallway outside her son’s bedroom.

She was taken to Transmountain Hospital in El Paso and later transferred to University Medical Center, where doctors documented 11 gunshot wounds. According to court records filed Oct. 14, she was listed in critical condition at that time.

Marin is being held at the Doña Ana County Detention Center while prosecutors seek to have him detained without bond under New Mexico’s pretrial detention statute. A district judge will decide whether he remains in custody at an upcoming hearing.

Detectives found three shell casings and two bullet exit holes inside the bedroom, along with blood and a bloody shoe print near a Jeep parked outside. Family members told investigators they awoke around 3 a.m. to the sound of multiple gunshots. One relative said he found De La Torre injured in the hallway and drove her to the hospital.

Police said Marin invoked his right to remain silent, but a gunshot residue test returned positive.

In an expedited motion for pretrial detention, prosecutors argued that Marin should remain in custody, citing a violent criminal history that includes two pending felony cases in Texas. One of those cases involves an alleged attempted capital murder of multiple people, with a jury trial scheduled for February 2026.

Prosecutors said Marin’s “disproportionate and violent reaction to his mother shows not only a possibility that he will commit new crimes if released but a certainty.”

Court records show Marin also has prior fugitive-from-justice warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a juvenile case for unlawful possession of a firearm.

A public safety assessment flagged Marin as a high risk for new violent offenses but a low risk of failing to appear in court. Prosecutors said that despite the assessment’s medium-level supervision recommendation, no release conditions would protect the community.

The district attorney’s office intends to present the case to a grand jury.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.