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Rio Rancho community gathers to mourn slain teen
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RIO RANCHO — A grieving community filled Haynes Park the evening of July 29 for Rio Rancho High School student Michael LaMotte, who was killed in a University of New Mexico shooting July 25.
LaMotte, age 14, was reportedly playing video games when he was shot and killed.
A vigil for the teen, organized by Rio Rancho gym Elite Physique, gave family and friends a chance to talk about his life and mourn the loss.
“I’m feeling really emotional, especially for my cousin, the grandma. This has been a real bad tragedy for our family, because my cousin Bernadette, the grandma, lost her son a year and a half ago. So she knows what the pain is to lose a child,” Darlene Archibeque said.
She spoke in front of everyone about her cousin’s grandson as well. After the event, she said the shooting has been eye-opening.
“I think that you gotta call each other, be there for each other, and why are all these people here? It’s support for our family,” she said.
She said LaMotte was a very happy, outgoing kid.
“He was very talkative. Got along well with everybody. He was a good brother, a son. He was just out there, you know, always willing to help people do for people,” she added.
She asks that the community “be safe out there.”
“Watch out for each other. Just watch where you go, places like that, because you never know what’s going to happen. Tragedy can strike at any time. And like, I said earlier, we can’t push to God because he has things that he has intuition of what things happen in our lives and how we’re going to go, and we never know what tomorrow brings. Just take day by day,” she said.
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The family, upset by the loss, did not want to speak publicly about LaMotte. However, several others did, including fellow students, teachers and other family members.
Jordan Alina, from Elite Physique, explained why she and the gym wanted to support the family.
“(Michael’s mom) is near and dear to my heart. She’s one of my best friends. I’ve known her for a very long time and that family for a very long time, and we are a family-owned business, and we were here to support and be here for them during these tough times,” she said.
She was pleased with the turnout. There were dozens of people present.
“It’s incredible, the community coming together during these tough times for this family,” she said. “It was a tragic thing that happened to Michael, and just to see everyone coming together, showing love for this family, it’s a beautiful thing.”
According to many of his friends from Rio Rancho High School, LaMotte had a great sense of humor and an appreciation for music.
“He was very funny. He was very talented on the viola, and he loved his family very much. He was a great brother and a great son,” Alina said.
The event was also full of prayer, lead by Richard Mansfield, a minister from Albuquerque. He guided everyone during the candle-lighting portion of the evening.
“My family had a death just like this. My son-in-law was murdered. I had to minister my daughter and grandsons. I said (to them), ‘We have a choice to make.’ We either become hateful like this vicious person who took Michael’s life or we get better because of this,” he said.
He added that the person who killed LaMotte would pay for the crime.
Carey Bhalla, a partner at Rothstein Donatelli, which is representing the LaMotte family, spoke on the family’s concerns with how LaMotte’s death was handled by police.
“Despite the fact that this is still early on in the investigation, it’s apparent that there was a lack of an urgent response or a meaningful response despite the dire nature of the calls that were coming in about a shooter on campus,” she said. “We’re trying to piece that together. So, if anybody has information about calling in that night, or if they heard anything on campus that night to let us know and to reach out. We’ve already had some people come forward, and we thank them for doing that.”
She also stressed that the family needs privacy in this time of grief and loss.
There was also a surprise visit by Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, who said he felt the devastation of the community. He wasn’t initially going to speak, but Mansfield spotted him in the crowd and invited him up. It was also close to home for him.
“I am very sad and devastated when we lose a young person like this. When we lose anybody, it’s devastating, but when we lose a child, it’s a lot harder on me being a father and having a granddaughter that actually personally knew this young man and has been close to that circle of children,” he said.
He said his heart grieves for the family and the community during this time.
“Michael wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was with his brother playing video games and felt like he was in a safe place. That just shows you how a situation where you feel perfectly safe can turn very bad very quickly, and I don’t know that anybody can be completely prepared for a situation like that,” he said.
He encouraged the community to be vigilant.
LaMotte’s cousin Jordan Ortiz started a GoFundMe for the family, and just four days after the death of LaMotte, the GoFundMe has raised almost $17,000, surpassing the initial goal of $16,000. Now, the fundraiser has set $25,000 as the goal. Nearly 400 people have donated.
Elite Physique also started several fundraisers on varying platforms for LaMotte:
• cash.app/$Leebumble
• gofund.me/82d07d8f
• Apple Pay: 505-550-8233
Cash dropoff at Elite Physique
