Man gets ‘maximum punishment’ in shooting that killed high schooler, NM officials say
An 18-year-old man was sentenced to 24 years behind bars for his role in a shooting at a house party that left a high school student dead, New Mexico prosecutors said.
Cruz Medina’s sentence was the “maximum punishment allowed” in the case, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office said in a Jan. 27 post on Facebook.
It came after Medina agreed in October to plead guilty to first-degree murder and other charges, according to prosecutors and court records.
McClatchy News reached out to Medina’s attorney Jan. 28 and was awaiting a response.
Medina and four friends showed up to an Albuquerque house party in December 2022 without being invited and “brandishing firearms,” prosecutors said. They were kicked out and then “opened fire” on the house as they left, according to prosecutors.
A bullet struck and killed 18-year-old Jada Gonzales, prosecutors said.
Gonzales was a senior at Albuquerque Academy and was making plans for college, the New Mexico Sun reported. Her father, Jasper Gonzales, told the outlet that “she was so full of life.”
In a remembrance on the school’s student news site, The Advocate, Gonzales was described as a talented artist and writer who was warm, honest and charismatic. She “took pride in her role as a member of the Zuni Pueblo and frequently expressed her gratitude for her Native roots which always kept her close to her family and friends,” the site said.
In a now-closed fundraiser for funeral expenses, Gonzales’ mother, Kateri Sanchez, said losing her “is the greatest pain I’ve ever known and not one I’d wish any parent to ever feel.”
Though Medina was 16 years old when the shooting happened, he’s now an adult and “will serve his time in an adult correctional facility,” prosecutors said.
Another man, Isaiah Espinosa, 18, is accused of firing the fatal shot and was sentenced in 2024 to 29 years in prison, the Albuquerque Journal and KRQE reported.
This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Man gets ‘maximum punishment’ in shooting that killed high schooler, NM officials say."
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