Estate of victim Jason Gomez alleges inadequate security, lighting and enforcement at park contributed to March 2025 attack.

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

LAS CRUCES - The estate of one of the victims killed in the March 2025 mass shooting at Young Park has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Las Cruces, alleging the city failed to provide adequate safety measures at the park prior to the attack.

The complaint, filed Feb. 19 in the 3rd Judicial District Court, was brought by Dennis Murphy as personal representative of the wrongful death estate of Jason Gomez. The suit names the City of Las Cruces and multiple defendants, including Tomas Rivas, Nathan Rivas, Gustavo Dominguez and Josiah Ontiveros.

Three people were killed and 15 others were injured in the March 21, 2025 shooting at Young Park.

The lawsuit alleges the city failed to implement basic safety measures at the park and did not adequately address known risks tied to large gatherings and prior disturbances at the location.

According to the complaint, those failures included inadequate lighting, lack of monitoring or crowd control, failure to secure park gates and insufficient law enforcement presence. The filing also alleges the city failed to enforce permitting requirements related to large gatherings at the park.

The complaint asserts that immunity is waived under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act and accuses the city of negligent operation and maintenance of a public premises, along with other negligence claims.

In addition to claims against the city, the lawsuit names the alleged shooters and includes claims of negligence, negligent use of a deadly weapon and wrongful death.

Criminal cases tied to the shooting have proceeded separately from the civil action.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, costs and other relief allowed by law, including punitive damages against individual defendants.