{"id":16465,"date":"2025-09-20T16:22:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T22:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/teen-gun-violence-on-the-rise-in-farmington-san-juan-county\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:58:29","slug":"teen-gun-violence-on-the-rise-in-farmington-san-juan-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/teen-gun-violence-on-the-rise-in-farmington-san-juan-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen gun violence on the rise in Farmington, San Juan County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Farmington
Farmington Police investigate a Sept. 18, 2025, shooting that left three people injured in the area of North Allen Avenue.<\/span>Debra Mayeux<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

San Juan County has experienced a recent surge in shootings involving teenage suspects \u2013 a trend that Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe called \u201creally alarming but not totally unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebbe, president of the New Mexico Chiefs of Police Association, said juvenile gun violence has been prevalent in other parts of the state, with Farmington and San Juan County \u201ctrailing the rest of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, that pattern appears to be reversing.<\/p>\n

It started on Aug. 31, when at 1:54 a.m., Lamar White, 15, and Jesse Hensley, 19, had an altercation that led to White reportedly shooting Hensley, killing him. White was then shot by another individual. Both died at the scene near East Murray Drive and Camina Entrada, according to police reports.<\/p>\n

\"Lamar
Lamar White, 15, of Farmington died in an early Sunday morning shooting in Farmington.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jesse
Jesse Dalton Hensley, 19, of Aztec, died in an early Sunday morning shooting.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Then on Sept. 13, Angello Murphy, 18, of Aztec, allegedly shot and killed Kit Stephens of Aztec and reportedly shot and injured Dune Stephens, also of Aztec.<\/p>\n

Five days later, on Sept. 18, Farmington police were called at 1:30 a.m. to the 700 block of North Allen Avenue, where a \u201clarge fight\u201d was happening. Not long after the call, gunshots were fired, reportedly by an 18-year-old suspect, according to spokeswoman Shanice Gonzales.<\/p>\n

\"Farmington
Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Three youths were injured by gunfire \u2013 a 16-year-old was grazed by a bullet, another 16-year-old was shot in the leg, and an 18-year-old was shot in the chest and is in critical condition at an Albuquerque hospital, Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficers recovered two firearms from the scene, both matching the caliber of casings located nearby,\u201d according to a news release from the FPD.<\/p>\n

In New Mexico, \u201c18-year-olds can have rifles. They can\u2019t have handguns. You can\u2019t buy a handgun until you\u2019re 21,\u201d Hebbe said, adding he believes these teens are using \u201ca variety of methods\u201d to obtain them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, some ways they get them is stealing them. People leave the car unlocked. Sometimes it\u2019s the parents, and they are not secured,\u201d Hebbe said, adding the teenagers might be stealing them from the parents.<\/p>\n

\"Angello
Angello Murphy, 18, of Aztec, has been charged in the Sept. 13, 2025, shooting death of Kit Stephens, of Aztec.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Charging the parents<\/div>\n

In 2023, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Bennie Hargrove Act into law. It was named for an eighth grade student who was shot and killed by another middle school student who was given a firearm by his father. The student brought the gun to school and shot and killed Bennie.<\/p>\n

The law holds parents responsible for allowing their children access to firearms used in crimes by allowing them to be charged with a misdemeanor, according to a news release from the governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Hebbe said he wanted to charge the parents in the case of Beau Wilson, an 18-year-old who on May 15, 2023, went on a shooting rampage on North Dustin Avenue, randomly discharging more than 190 rounds, killing three women and injuring two law enforcement officers before police fatally shot him.<\/p>\n

However, Hebbe was told that once an individual turns 18, the parents can no longer be held responsible, because at 18 the individual becomes \u201cresponsible for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oct. 1 special legislative session<\/div>\n

These more recent shootings left Hebbe \u201calarmed at how guns are involved in (juvenile) crimes and how many people are being shot,\u201d he said, adding the Legislature needs to do something about this.<\/p>\n

He had hoped juvenile crime would be addressed in the Oct. 1 special legislative session, but Gov. Lujan Grisham set the focus on:<\/p>\n

Funding the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund to stabilize grants for quality health care providers.Making health insurance premiums more affordable for New Mexicans losing Medicaid coverage.Providing new investments in food assistance for children, seniors and families in need.Funding for public broadcasting.Providing additional resources to help the Health Care Authority prepare for Medicaid enrollment changes.<\/div>\n

\u201cIt is very frustrating,\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

\"Meshach
Meshach Cayaditto<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dominic
Dominic Dawes<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Shooting incident arrests<\/div>\n

In the meantime, the Farmington Police Department continues to investigate the Aug. 31 and Sept. 18 shootings, and no one has been arrested in either case in connection with the gunfire, according to Gonzales.<\/p>\n

However, two arrests were made related to the Sept. 18 incident. Meshach Cayaditto, 22, and Dominic Dawes, 22, were charged with violating municipal code Sec. 18-4-2: Disorderly house or social house. They were booked into the San Juan County Detention Center and released the next day.<\/p>\n

The code defines an \u201cunruly gathering\u201d as one where alcoholic beverages are provided to or possessed by underage individuals, and where behavior causes a substantial disturbance to nearby residences or properties.<\/p>\n

Cayaditto has a criminal record that includes fourth-degree felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery. He was under conditions of release from the 11th Judicial District Court, ordered by District Judge Curtis Gurley not to pick up new charges or consume drugs or alcohol.<\/p>\n

In June, Cayaditto applied to the pre-prosecution diversion program, which allows defendants to avoid conviction by completing treatment for substance abuse or mental health issues, according to court records.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 8, during a status conference, Assistant District Attorney Terry Walker told the court Cayaditto\u2019s application would be finalized Sept. 17, and charges could be dismissed.<\/p>\n

But Cayaditto picked up new charges on Sept. 18. He is scheduled to appear before Gurley again on Sept. 29 for another status conference.<\/p>\n

Police ask anyone with information about either shooting to contact the Detective Division Tipline at (505) 599-1068.<\/p>\n

\"North
North Allen Avenue was blocked off by Farmington Police for several hours as they investigated an early morning Sept. 18, 2025 shooting that left three people injured.<\/span>Debra Mayeux<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018really alarming,\u2019 says Chief Steve Hebbe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16465"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20217,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16465\/revisions\/20217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16465"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}