A mother’s attempt to stop her adult son’s suicide ended in her own death on the evening of Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Tina Lucero, 58, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was found at a Los Ranchitos Road residence around 9:30 p.m. with a single gunshot wound to the chest. First responders pronounced her dead at the scene after life-saving efforts.

Lucero physically intervened and a struggle for control of the firearm followed. The gun discharged once, striking Lopez in the hand and fatally wounding Lucero. Lopez was taken into custody at the scene, transported to a hospital for treatment of his hand wound, and later charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, a fourth-degree felony. Authorities planned to book him into the Doña Ana County Detention Center after his release from the hospital, and the investigation is ongoing.

Did anyone in the Los Ranchitos area see or hear anything that night that could help clarify how the shooting occurred?