Family of slain 14-year-old alleges UNM police responded slowly to mother's report - Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
A law firm representing the family of a 14-year-old boy fatally shot Friday on the University of New Mexico campus alleged Monday that university police failed to respond promptly to the mother’s reports that her son may have been the victim of a shooting.
The mother told UNM police by phone early Friday that her son, Michael LaMotte, may have been the victim of a shooting, but hours passed before police acted on the report, according to a statement issued Monday by the Albuquerque law firm Rothstein Donatelli.
“Hours passed between Ms. LaMotte’s initial calls to law enforcement and the police arriving at the dorm room in which the shooting took place,” the firm alleged.
The statement indicates that the LaMotte family, through their lawyers, are investigating UNM’s response to the shootings.
“The failure of police and UNM to take Ms. LaMotte’s complaints seriously is unimaginable,” the statement said. “This lengthy delay demonstrates that the incident was not handled with the appropriate level of seriousness demanded by an active shooter on a college campus.”
A UNM spokeswoman said late Monday that she was unable to immediately respond to the law firm’s statement, which was released by email late Monday afternoon.
UNM President Garnett Stokes said in a statement Monday that the UNM community was reeling from LaMotte’s killing and grateful for the same-day arrest of the alleged gunman.
“And to our incoming students and their families who participated in orientation activities that day: thank you for your trust and patience as we navigated this situation,” Stokes said in the statement.
Some 400 new freshmen were housed in UNM dorms for new-student orientation at the time of the shootings.
Prosecutors allege that John Patrick Fuentes, 18, killed LaMotte, a Rio Rancho High School student, with a gunshot wound to the head, according to a pretrial detention motion filed Saturday in 2nd Judicial District Court.
Fuentes, of Los Lunas, is scheduled for a detention hearing on Thursday before Judge Joseph Montano. He remained in custody Monday at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Court records show that a gunshot detection device picked up gunfire near the dorms at UNM shortly after midnight on Friday. UNM police got a call about an alarm and found broken windows and blood on the roof of Mesa Vista Hall.
About 2:30 a.m. Friday — after a UNM student showed up at a hospital with a gunshot wound — officers found LaMotte’s body in the student’s dormitory, according to records filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.
The LaMotte family also alleges that UNM failed to inform LaMotte’s mother of her son’s killing in a timely manner, the law firm’s statement said.
“In fact, she first learned about his passing from local media outlets, despite the fact that she was on scene waiting to hear news of her son’s condition,” the statement said. “The disorienting shock and grief of this tragedy combined with the manner in which information has been publicly released has caused indescribable frustration and sorrow for the family.”
However, the family thanked New Mexico State Police for Fuentes’ swift arrest.
State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a briefing Friday night four young men were playing video games in a UNM dorm room early Friday morning when one of them opened fire on the others, killing LaMotte and wounding a 19-year-old.
Fuentes was arrested during a traffic stop in Los Lunas on Friday after police tracked Fuentes to the area using license plate readers, Weisler said.
UNM Police Chief Joseph Silva said the dorm room where the shooting occurred was at Casas del Rio, a student housing center at 420 Redondo Drive, north of Johnson Field. He said it was leased by one of the four people who were there when the gunfire erupted.
Prosecutors alleged in a pretrial detention motion that security video reviewed by State Police showed that Fuentes arrived at the UNM campus at about 8 p.m. Thursday in a black Mazda hatchback.
Fuentes met with LaMotte and Daniel Archuleta, who is described in court records as a gunshot victim, and a third person. They all walked to the Gila dormitory, the motion said.
A witness told police the four were playing video games in Archuleta’s dorm room when Fuentes shot LeMotte, who died in the dorm room, according to the pretrial detention motion.
Fuentes then pointed the gun at the witness, threatened him, then shot at Archuleta, wounding him in the back of the head, the motion said.
Public still in dark on Stewart’s ethics hearing outcome - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
The outcome of a legislative ethics subcommittee hearing last week over allegations of harassment against a high-ranking senator remained secret Monday, and it’s anyone’s guess when that information will come to light.
A Legislative Council Service employee accused New Mexico Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) of calling her “stupid” and shouting at her following a dispute during the legislative session earlier this year. But because of a carveout in New Mexico’s transparency law, the accused, the alleged victim and the public are left in the dark about the committee’s findings after an hours-long hearing Friday, including any decision if Stewart’s behavior amounted to “harassment” under the Legislature’s anti-harassment policy.
Amanda Lavin, legal director at the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, told Source NM on Monday that the Interim Ethics Committee’s Hearing Subcommittee is not legally required to make its decision in public. An exemption in the New Mexico Open Meetings Act (OMA) applies, in part, to “matters relating to personnel or matters adjudicatory in nature or to investigative or quasi-judicial proceedings relating to ethics.”
Lavin said while OMA requires committee work on public business to be conducted in the open, meetings about investigative proceedings related to ethics and conduct may be closed to the public.
“There is no requirement under OMA that a legislative committee make its final vote in public, unlike OMA’s requirements for any other public body,” Lavin said in a statement.
The matter stems from a complaint filed by legislative staffer Michelle Jaschke over an alleged incident involving Stewart on Feb. 27, according to a summary of the investigation given during the hearing. Jaschke did not respond to an email Monday seeking comment.
Former New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Richard Bosson, who chaired the subcommittee, said during the hearing Friday afternoon that the panel would issue a written, formal order “in the near future, which will be public, in due course.”
The subcommittee went into closed session and deliberated for more than an hour-and-a-half.
The purpose of Friday’s hearing was to make a recommendation to the Senate Ethics Committee, Bosson said. Since the complaint involves a member of the Senate, the Hearing Subcommittee’s recommendation goes next to “the appropriate standing committee,” according to the Legislature’s rules. In this case, that is the Senate Ethics Committee, Casebier said.
According to the Senate’s own rules, the president pro tempore is supposed to chair the Senate Ethics Committee. But since Stewart is the subject of the complaint, the rules require Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) to appoint a substitute from Stewart’s political party.
Interim Ethics Committee Co-Chair Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerillos) said the Legislature is handling the matter now because it took time for employment and labor lawyer Lorna Wiggins, who served as special counsel for the Ethics Committee’s investigative subcommittee, to interview the people involved.
Legislative Council Service Director Shawna Casebier told Source in an email that Wiggins’ investigative report “is confidential and has not been released to the public.” “The decision of the hearing subcommittee will be made public once finalized,” Casebier said.
Stewart told Source in a text message Monday morning she had not received the subcommittee’s recommendation.
Source on Monday filed a records request for the report. A records custodian wrote in an email that they would respond by Aug. 12.
Heinrich co-sponsors bill to study wildfire impacts on home insurance - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and a Republican colleague are seeking a clearer picture of how wildfires affect homeowners’ access to insurance, as insurers in New Mexico and across the country increasingly cancel or refuse to renew policies.
Heinrich of New Mexico and U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) introduced the “Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2025” last Thursday, a bill that would empower the Government Accountability Office to conduct a wide-ranging study of wildfires’ effect on private insurers’ behavior over the last decade.
“I’m hearing from more and more New Mexicans who’ve seen their insurance premiums skyrocket, lost coverage entirely or been priced out of protecting their homes. That is completely unacceptable,” Heinrich said in a news release.
The bill would require the GAO to create a detailed picture of wildfire risk across the country, as well as examine where and whether insurers’ have raised rates, declined to provide coverage or pulled entirely out of certain markets. It will also examine what state interventions, if any, have worked, according to the legislation.
“Families deserve fair, transparent coverage they can count on,” Heinrich said. “We need a clearer picture of how worsening wildfires and climate risks are impacting insurance companies’ decisions to raise insurance premiums.”
The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
According to the state Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, which regulates and monitors insurance products offered across New Mexico, 13% of state properties are uninsured, which is the second-highest rate in the country, behind only Mississippi. An actuary at the OSI testified earlier this year that the state’s top 10 insurers increased premiums 60%, on average, since 2022.
The OSI has not reported any insurers pulling out of New Mexico entirely, but said in a news release earlier this month that the state’s top 10 insurers declined to renew more than 10,000 policies between Jan. 1, 2021 and July 1, 2024. The regulator observed a “significant jump” in non-renewals in 2023, a rate that remained high in 2024.
Also, a recent, first-of-its-kind study from the Federal Insurance Office examined insurance data in about 200 of New Mexico’s roughly 260 ZIP codes. Among other findings, researchers discovered that in 2022 insurance companies chose not to renew insurance policies in the state at a higher rate than the national average in 152 of the 200 ZIP codes it analyzed.
In 2022, New Mexico suffered a historic wildfire season, with the two biggest-ever wildfires in state history, including the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon in northern New Mexico and the Black in southern New Mexico. Each burned more than 300,000 acres.
Ruidoso-area lawmakers have also said homeowners have increasingly complained about premium hikes and cancellations since the South Fork and Salt fires last summer.
The federal study also found that, in 21 ZIP codes across the state, private insurers paid out more in claims and other expenses than they generated in premiums.
During the most recent legislative session, several proposals aimed at revamping the state’s so-called “insurer of last resort,” known as the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements plan, were considered to make it cover more people and provide more coverage. Additional proposals would have shaken up the board overseeing the FAIR plan, which is now composed of insurance industry leaders, to require it to include a climate scientist and a disaster expert, among other changes.
The legislation did not pass, but the FAIR plan board did vote to increase coverage limits from $350,000 to $750,000 for private homes and up to $1 million for commercial properties, which is in line the failed legislation.
Increasing the coverage cap to $750,000 is expected to increase the number of FAIR plan holders from about 7,000 to about 11,000, state insurance officials have said.
OSI Superintendent Alice Kane has said she is seeking additional changes to the FAIR plan, which is only offered to homeowners who have been denied coverage in the private market. Changes include increasing coverage limits for commercial property owners and also implementing requirements that FAIR plan recipients mitigate wildfire risk to their properties.
Kane will provide additional updates to an interim legislative committee Wednesday in Los Alamos at 12:45 p.m. Kendra Zacharias, the chair of the FAIR plan board, is tentatively expected to join her, according to a meeting agenda.
Women in legislatures across the US fight for 'potty parity' - By Kimberlee Kruesi and Claire Rush, Associated Press
For female state lawmakers in Kentucky, choosing when to go to the bathroom has long required careful calculation.
There are only two bathroom stalls for women on the third floor of the Kentucky Statehouse, where the House and Senate chambers are located. Female legislators — 41 of the 138 member Legislature — needing a reprieve during a lengthy floor session have to weigh the risk of missing an important debate or a critical vote.
None of their male colleagues face the same dilemma because, of course, multiple men's bathrooms are available. The Legislature even installed speakers in the men's bathrooms to broadcast the chamber's events so they don't miss anything important.
In a pinch, House Speaker David Osborne allows women to use his single stall bathroom in the chamber, but even that attracts long lines.
"You get the message very quickly: This place was not really built for us," said Rep. Lisa Willner, a Democrat from Louisville, reflecting on the photos of former lawmakers, predominantly male, that line her office.
The issue of potty parity may seem comic, but its impact runs deeper than uncomfortably full bladders, said Kathryn Anthony, professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Architecture.
"It's absolutely critical because the built environment reflects our culture and reflects our population," said Anthony, who has testified on the issue before Congress. "And if you have an environment that is designed for half the population but forgets about the other half, you have a group of disenfranchised people and disadvantaged people."
There is hope for Kentucky's lady legislators seeking more chamber potties.
A $300 million renovation of the 155-year-old Capitol — scheduled for completion by 2028 at the soonest — aims to create more women's restrooms and end Kentucky's bathroom disparity.
The Bluegrass State is among the last to add bathrooms to aging statehouses that were built when female legislators were not a consideration.
In the $392 million renovation of the Georgia Capitol, expanding bathroom access is a priority, said Gerald Pilgrim, chief of staff with the state's Building Authority. It will introduce female facilities on the building's fourth floor, where the public galleries are located, and will add more bathrooms throughout to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"We know there are not enough bathrooms," he said.
Evolving equality in statehouses
There's no federal law requiring bathroom access for all genders in public buildings. Some 20 states have statutes prescribing how many washrooms buildings must have, but historical buildings — such as statehouses — are often exempt.
Over the years, as the makeup of state governments has changed, statehouses have added bathrooms for women.
When Tennessee's Capitol opened in 1859, the architects designed only one restroom — for men only — situated on the ground floor. According to legislative librarian Eddie Weeks, the toilet could only be "flushed" when enough rainwater had been collected.
"The room was famously described as 'a stench in the nostrils of decency,'" Weeks said in an email.
Today, Tennessee's Capitol has a female bathroom located between the Senate and House chambers. It's in a cramped hall under a staircase, sparking comparisons to Harry Potter's cupboard bedroom, and it contains just two stalls. The men also just have one bathroom on the same floor, but it has three urinals and three stalls.
Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn, who was elected in 2023, said she wasn't aware of the disparity in facilities until contacted by The Associated Press.
"I've apparently accepted that waiting in line for a two-stall closet under the Senate balcony is just part of the job," she said.
"I had to fight to get elected to a legislature that ranks dead last for female representation, and now I get to squeeze into a space that feels like it was designed by someone who thought women didn't exist -- or at least didn't have bladders," Behn said.
The Maryland State House is the country's oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, operational since the late 1700s. Archivists say its bathroom facilities were initially intended for white men only because desegregation laws were still in place. Women's restrooms were added after 1922, but they were insufficient for the rising number of women elected to office.
Delegate Pauline Menes complained about the issue so much that House Speaker Thomas Lowe appointed her chair of the "Ladies Rest Room Committee," and presented her with a fur covered toilet seat in front of her colleagues in 1972. She launched the women's caucus the following year.
It wasn't until 2019 that House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the first woman to secure the top position, ordered the addition of more women's restrooms along with a gender-neutral bathroom and a nursing room for mothers in the Lowe House Office Building.
'No longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic'
As more women were elected nationwide in the 20th century, some found creative workarounds.
In Nebraska's unicameral Legislature, female senators didn't get a dedicated restroom until 1988, when a facility was added in the chamber's cloakroom. There had previously been a single restroom in the senate lounge, and Sen. Shirley Marsh, who served for some 16 years, would ask a State Patrol trooper to guard the door while she used it, said Brandon Metzler, the Legislature's clerk.
In Colorado, female House representatives and staff were so happy to have a restroom added in the chamber's hallway in 1987 that they hung a plaque to honor then-state Rep. Arie Taylor, the state's first Black woman legislator, who pushed for the facility.
The plaque, now inside a women's bathroom in the Capitol, reads: "Once here beneath the golden dome if nature made a call, we'd have to scramble from our seats and dash across the hall ... Then Arie took the mike once more to push an urge organic, no longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic."
The poem concludes: "In mem'ry of you, Arie (may you never be forgot), from this day forth we'll call that room the Taylor Chamber Pot."
New Mexico Democratic state Rep. Liz Thomson recalled missing votes in the House during her first year in office in 2013 because there was no women's restroom in the chamber's lounge. An increase in female lawmakers — New Mexico elected the largest female majority Legislature in U.S. history in 2024 — helped raise awareness of the issue, she said.
"It seems kind of like fluff, but it really isn't," she said. "To me, it really talks about respect and inclusion."
The issue is not exclusive to statehouses. In the U.S. Capitol, the first restroom for congresswomen didn't open until 1962. While a facility was made available for female U.S. Senators in 1992, it wasn't until 2011 that the House chamber opened a bathroom to women lawmakers.
Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to a congressional seat. That happened in 1916.
Willner insists that knowing the Kentucky Capitol wasn't designed for women gives her extra impetus to stand up and make herself heard.
"This building was not designed for me," she said. "Well, guess what? I'm here."
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Associated Press writer Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed.
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