Mathew Nelson, 22, was killed in the early hours of April 10, 2023, after intervening in a fight at the Clovis Apartments on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Clovis, New Mexico. Police arrived just after 1 a.m. and found Nelson with multiple gunshot wounds; he was taken to Plains Regional Medical Center and died of his injuries. Witnesses in court records said Nelson tried to break up the altercation when one of the men involved, later identified as Patrick Quinones, opened fire and then fired into the surrounding crowd, later saying he feared being jumped.

Investigators tracked Quinones, then an Airman First Class stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, to a Best Western in Post, Texas; he was arrested April 10 and extradited to New Mexico. Charges were initially second-degree murder and tampering with evidence and later reduced to voluntary manslaughter. In January 2026 Quinones pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter; the plea produced a conviction and a lifetime federal firearms ban. Nelson’s family gave impact statements at sentencing, and the judge imposed credit for 647 days served in jail followed by 1,543 days of supervised probation.

Did anyone in Clovis see Nelson that night or have information about the fight leading up to the shooting?