Trevor L. Szalai, 20, was killed in a shooting on April 1, 2025, outside Las Vegas, New Mexico. New Mexico State Police responded shortly after 1:30 p.m. to 5 Prairie Hill Road and found Szalai with a serious gunshot wound; the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator pronounced him dead at the scene. A 21-year-old man, Cody Ramone, was beside him attempting to provide aid and a break-action shotgun was found nearby, about 10 feet from the two men.

Authorities say Szalai and Ramone had a verbal argument that turned physical and at some point a shotgun became involved. News reporting cites an affidavit in which Ramone reportedly told investigators Szalai had threatened him with the shotgun, that he batted the weapon away and it discharged, striking Szalai below the neck. A witness on the phone with Szalai reportedly heard Ramone say he had shot Szalai. Ramone was arrested and charged with second-degree murder; early court filings sought to keep him jailed while the case proceeds.

Szalai’s obituary says he was born March 16, 2005, and lists a wide circle of grieving family including his wife, parents, siblings and grandparents, and notes a memorial service and candlelight vigil in Klamath Falls, Oregon later that month. The precise circumstances of how the shotgun came to be involved remain an important question in the ongoing prosecution. Did anyone in the area see or hear the confrontation that led to this shooting?