Brandon King, 33, was shot to death on the afternoon of August 14, 2021, on the 1200 block of Brownlee Avenue in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Friends described him as a kind man and a devoted father to two children, especially his daughter Sadie. Court records show King had been arrested for hitting his ex-girlfriend four days before he was killed; the woman told police their prior relationship had been violent.

Witnesses said King confronted his ex and her new partner, Doroteo Vasquez, and struck Vasquez with a pipe or bat. Vasquez, then 28, admitted to police that he shot King multiple times but said he fired only after being attacked and that he stopped when King asked him to. Witnesses reported an initial burst of gunfire, a pause, then additional shots; the woman and Vasquez fled and allegedly fired more shots from the car as they left before returning to the scene. Police arrested Vasquez and charged him with first-degree murder and shooting at or from a motor vehicle; a judge ordered him held without bond. The trial was delayed after a January 2022 continuance request and a new date had not been set.

Did anyone in the Las Cruces area see the events on Brownlee Avenue or know more about the people involved?