DEMING – A Deming man is behind bars following his arrest in the shooting death of a 27-year-old Las Cruces man. Ezekiel Ricoy, 57, of the 4800 block of Sagebrush Road SE has been charged with an open count of murder, two counts of child abuse, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of shooting at or from a motor vehicle .
The charges stem from an incident at Ricoy’s residence on Saturday evening where the victim, Brendan Kern, 27, of Las Cruces, was shot. Kern is Ricoy’s stepson.
Luna County Sheriff’s deputies were called out at 6:35 pm to the address at Sagebrush Road in reference to shots fired. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the LCSO, responded to a 911 call from Kern’s girlfriend about the shooting at Ricoy’s home.
En route to the crime scene, deputies stopped a Chevrolet Equinox that reportedly had left the scene. The occupants were an adult male and two children. The adult male driver had fled the scene for the safety of the children.
Deming police and New Mexico State Police arrived at the crime scene and detained Ricoy. LCSO deputies found Kern down in the yard with multiple gunshot wounds. Deputies rendered aid to Kern who was transported to Mimbres Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The preliminary investigation by the LCSO revealed that Kern, along with his girlfriend, their two sons and an adult male, traveled to Ricoy’s residence to retrieve an ice chest from Kern’s mother. Kern’s girlfriend, who had been driving, had gone into the house through the back door and, soon after, hurried back to the vehicle after Ricoy told her to “get out of my f___king yard!”
Ricoy then came out the door with a rifle and shot at the Equinox several times. The rifle was later identified as an AR-15. Following the shots, Kern exited the vehicle from the front passenger seat while the other male shielded the two children on the floor of the vehicle and Kern’s girlfriend drove the Equinox to the back of the driveway.
According to witness accounts in the LCSO report, Kern approached Ricoy who fired multiple rounds, striking Kern at least three times. Ricoy went back into the home while Kern’s girlfriend attended to her boyfriend’s condition.
At that point, the adult male in the Equinox drove the children to safety.
Ricoy was arrested without incident shortly after the shooting and did not cooperate with investigators on what occurred on Sagebrush Road. Ricoy is currently being held at the Luna County Detention Center without bond.
The LCSO is continuing with this investigation.
Bill Armendariz can be reached at 575-494-5059 or [email protected].
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