Lawsuit raises questions about deadly 2022 Halloween party
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After their son was shot and then run over at a Halloween party last year, a still-grieving family is now suing multiple people who were at – or hosting – the party.
There are a total of nine defendants named in the lawsuit filed by the family of Gibran Gomez-Martinez, including the owners of the business where the party took place. The lawyer says they were negligent and also played a part in what they are calling a wrongful death.
Gomez-Martinez was 15 years old when he went to a Halloween party at Gorilla Recycling in the South Valley off Old Coors.
“He went to the party, he was having a good time,” said Art Nieto, the attorney for Gomez-Martinez’s family. “And these three guys that ended up getting charged for the murder, for some reason that we’re not clear on yet, go over there, parked their truck in the in the parking lot of this warehouse and just start shooting.”
Court documents say three teens had handguns and a rifle and when they opened fire into the building where the party was happening, Gomez-Martinez was shot.
“He ends up shot, but he also ends up run over by another kid. We don’t think was connected to the three kids with a gun,” Nieto said.
The three teens who allegedly opened fire have been charged with murder. The teen who ran over Gomez-Martinez has not been charged with anything – but he is named in this lawsuit.
“That death reports as quoted for you, the reported findings, it says shot by assailants and run over by vehicle. And so we’re still parsing out what happened specifically, but we know that he died too young,” Nieto said.
The other defendants are the owners of Gorilla Recycling
“These people that own this business and the building effectively invited all of these partygoers to their place. And so when you invite somebody onto your premises, and then it’s inherently dangerous and ends up leading to your death, I believe you breached the duty, on a premises liability theory,” Nieto said.
The lawsuit was filed this week and they are still working on notifying everyone who has been named.
Nieto says he expects some pushback from certain defendants but says he is prepared to go to trial if needed.