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LAS CRUCES - The mother of a teen who was heavily intoxicated when he allegedly went for a deputy's gun, then his cruiser, before being shot and killed last March is suing the county for unspecified damages in the boy's death.
The night of March 29, Deputy Johnny Barrientos was investigating a beer shoplifting at the Mesquite Mercantile on N.M. 478, and found three males and a female nearby in a field, according to New Mexico State Police, the lead investigative agency. One of them, 17-year-old Nick Cody Dominguez, allegedly grabbed for Barrientos' duty weapon, discharging a round. Dominguez was Tasered but was able to run to the deputy's cruiser and allegedly put it into gear, during which Barrientos shot him five times, according to authorities. Dominguez's autopsy later found he had the active component of marijuana and his system and a blood-alcohol content of nearly three times the legal limit for adults.
But Dominguez was unarmed when he was shot, and didn't pose an imminent risk to Barrientos, according to the lawsuit, which calls the deputy's actions "excessive and objectively unreasonable under the circumstances."
Sheriff's Todd Garrison and the county's alleged failure to train Barrientos for such a situation are described as "sadistic."
Lucia Fancher, Dominguez's mother, signaled her intent to file suit last July, but her then-attorney, Joe Arrieta, was indefinitely suspended from practicing law the next month. Her current attorneys, with the Fine Law
The county has a policy not to comment on threatened or pending litigation.
The initial lawsuit notice claimed Barrientos was separated from his vehicle by a cement irrigation ditch when he shot Dominguez three times in the back and that Dominguez got in the car to escape, not to run Barrientos down. But while it's true the cruiser was in reverse when it finally stopped, it was on the same side of the ditch as the deputy, according to sources familiar with the crime scene who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
In a recreation of the shooting, authorities found that Barrientos was reaching for the keys of the vehicle when Dominguez seemed to be reaching for his weapon again, one source said. A man who had been riding his bike nearby when the altercation happened allegedly said the car seemed to lurch forward and that he thought Barrientos was going to be run over or dragged
"He couldn't believe the officer waited as long as he did before shooting," the source said.
Barrientos was cleared last summer of any wrongdoing by the county's multi-agency officer-involved shooting task force and the 3rd Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
