Brandon King was a 33-year-old White man known for his kindness and huge heart. A father to two children, his daughter Sadie was said to be the apple of his eye. Friends remembered him as a good listener who would give a person the shirt off his back and who always stood up to bullies.
On the afternoon of August 14, 2021, a violent confrontation unfolded on the 1200 block of Brownlee Avenue in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The conflict involved King, his ex-girlfriend, and her new partner, Doroteo Vasquez. King and Vasquez had once been friends, but their relationship had soured. The woman told police her prior relationship with King had been violent, and court records show King had been arrested for hitting her just four days before his death. On that Saturday, King appeared where Vasquez and the woman were meeting. According to witnesses, King struck Vasquez with a pipe or a bat.
In response, Vasquez, then 28, retrieved a Winchester rifle from the woman’s car and shot King multiple times. The woman reported hearing King say, "okay, okay, stop," but said Vasquez continued to fire. She and Vasquez then fled in her car, with Vasquez allegedly firing several more shots out the window as they drove away. They eventually returned to the scene. When police arrived around 5 p.m., they found a witness rendering aid to King, who was lying on the ground with several bullet wounds.
During the investigation, Vasquez admitted to shooting King but claimed he did so only after King attacked him. He also told police he stopped firing when King said to stop and denied shooting from the vehicle. Other witnesses reported hearing a burst of gunshots, followed by a pause and then a few more shots. Police arrested Vasquez and charged him with an open count of murder and shooting at or from a motor vehicle.
Prosecutors argued to keep Vasquez in jail pending trial, noting he was already on release for separate drug and domestic violence charges and had violated his release conditions by possessing a gun. A judge agreed, and Vasquez was ordered held without bond.
Vasquez pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. His trial was scheduled to begin in January 2022, but it was postponed after prosecutors requested a continuance. As of January 2022, a new trial date had not been set, and the case was proceeding through the courts.
