{"id":33028,"date":"2023-07-07T21:44:06","date_gmt":"2023-07-08T03:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-shooting-victims-mother-searches-for-justice\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:05:21","slug":"farmington-shooting-victims-mother-searches-for-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-shooting-victims-mother-searches-for-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmington shooting victim\u2019s mother searches for justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Ariana
Ariana Rosas, 18, was shot and killed March 23 when she was sitting in a vehicle parked at the Animas Valley Mall. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After a mother spoke out against the Farmington Police Department regarding the shooting death of her daughter, police have named two persons of interest in the Animas Valley Mall shooting.<\/p>\n

Cassie Estrada said her daughter, Ariana Rosas, 18, was a \u201cgood kid,\u201d whose life was taken too soon when she was shot March 23 while sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot behind the mall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe man who shot her is out walking the street,\u201d Estrada said. \u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating. I feel like I\u2019m running into a brick wall every time I try to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosas was at the mall with her boyfriend, Vincent Amato, 23, of Farmington. A local defense attorney, Tyson Quail, said in open court that Amato was a known drug dealer and that he was responsible for \u201ca drug deal gone wrong\u201d that ended up getting Rosas killed.<\/p>\n

According to New Mexico court records, Amato was never convicted of a drug-related crime. He was convicted on two separate speeding charges in 2021, as well as a texting while driving charge August 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis upset me,\u201d Estrada said of Quail\u2019s comments, asking if this is why the police \u201care doing nothing\u201d in the homicide case. \u201cIs it because you think it\u2019s a drug deal? It gets swept under the rug?\u201d<\/p>\n

Estrada maintained her daughter wasn\u2019t \u201cinto that life.\u201d Instead, the Vista Nueva High School graduate was in her second semester as a student at San Juan College. She was studying to be a welder, while living in the dorms and being involved in student life. She also was dating Amato.<\/p>\n

\u201cVincent, he loved her,\u201d Estrada said.<\/p>\n

\"Rosas,
Rosas, left, pictured with Vincent Amato, 23. (Courtesy)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Farmington police said they also knew Amato was Rosas\u2019 boyfriend and he was a \u201cvictim\u201d in the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is crucial to acknowledge that Mr. Amato has been subject to multiple interviews. Recognizing him as a victim of this crime, we are committed to maintaining an ongoing working relationship with him,\u201d said Shanice Gonzales, Farmington police spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Amato and Rosas were in the car together when the shooting happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cVincent told me they were trying to rob him,\u201d Estrada said.<\/p>\n

Amato was pistol-whipped and shot in the arm, according to Estrada, who said Amato speaks to her regularly.<\/p>\n

The alleged robbers are Christian Morales and Samuel Brooks, said Estrada, who identified Morales as the alleged shooter. \u201cHe knew my daughter. I don\u2019t understand how he could this. \u2026 Our family has been torn to pieces because this guy\u2019s actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzales confirmed Estrada\u2019s allegations. \u201cThroughout the course of this investigation, we have conducted interviews with numerous individuals associated with this case. Christian Morales and Samuel Brooks have emerged as persons of interest. However, this investigation remains highly active.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estrada said she has not received an update since the detective on the case, Detective Dave Rock, was moved off the case and retired June 30. She said he didn\u2019t even let her know he was retiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cFPD detectives have thoroughly briefed the family on the circumstances surrounding this tragic homicide,\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cDetective Rock possessed an understanding that the grandfather, Matthew Douglas, served as the intermediary between the Farmington Police Department and the family. Our team has maintained communication with the grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ariana
Ariana Rosas graduated from Vista Nueva High School. (Courtesy)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gonzales added that Sara Holiday, victim advocate, is responsible for communicating with the family. \u201cWe have worked with the mother, Cassie Estrada, to obtain financial assistance for housing and funeral assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Rock retired, the case was turned over to Detective Jarad Pelletier, who originally served as a secondary investigator with Detective Chris Blea, recently being named the secondary investigator, Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with all cases, our detectives are diligently working in close collaboration with the San Juan County District Attorney\u2019s Office to identify and apprehend the individual(s) responsible for this heinous crime,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A difficulty in the investigation has been the fact that no security cameras were put on the backside of the mall. \u201cHow is there no camera?\u201d Estrada asked.<\/p>\n

Gonzales added that Farmington police is \u201cactively working with the Animas Valley Mall management to assist them in putting up cameras to assist in any future investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Estrada said she remains heartbroken.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was my rock, my baby, my everything,\u201d she said. \u201cShe was going to do something. She had such a big heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

questions police investigation in daughter\u2019s death<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[168,799,2833,28,131],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-crime","tag-farmington","tag-farmington-police-department","tag-headlines","tag-homicide"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33028","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=33028"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82026,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33028\/revisions\/82026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33028"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}