Elon Cooley

Elon Cooley, a young man remembered by loved ones as loud, funny, and someone who always made others feel better about life, was shot and killed on May 6, 2023, at the age of 21. Known to some as "Slim," Elon was a beloved son and brother whose life was cut short in a parking lot outside a bar in his hometown of Gallup, New Mexico. His death left his family and the wider community in shock and mourning.

The night he died, Elon had been out with his mother, Nettie Cooley, and his brothers. The family had started their evening at Sammy C's Rockin' Sports Pub & Grille but later moved to the Sports Page Lounge at 1400 S. Second Street to play pool. According to his mother, they had moved locations because a man named Isaaiah Palacios, then 22, was trying to start a fight with Elon. She stated that Palacios and her son had a history of not liking each other since high school and that Palacios followed her family to the second bar.

Inside the Sports Page Lounge, an altercation occurred between Elon and Palacios. Feeling unsafe, Elon asked security guards at the bar to escort him to his car for his protection. At approximately 1:45 a.m., as the guards were walking with Elon through the parking lot, the suspect ran toward them and opened fire, striking Elon. When officers from the Gallup Police Department arrived, they found the security guards performing CPR on him. Elon was rushed to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.

The Gallup Police Department quickly identified Isaaiah Palacios as the suspect and launched a search. Palacios was located and, after being released from a hospital for unspecified reasons on May 16, 2023, he was arrested by University of New Mexico police officers. He was booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center and initially charged with first-degree murder, criminal damage to property, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

In a development that disappointed Elon's family, Palacios accepted a plea deal on November 1, 2024. The first-degree murder charge was reduced to second-degree murder, and the criminal damage charge was dropped. As part of the agreement, Palacios would not face a jury trial, and the court recommended a 60-day diagnostic evaluation before his sentencing. Elon's mother, Nettie, expressed her profound disappointment with the justice system, believing the sentence for second-degree murder would be insufficient. "These kids that are shooting [people] are only in their 20s, they're only going to be in their 50s when they get out; they'll still have their whole life ahead of them," she said.

In the wake of her son's death, Nettie Cooley organized a GoFundMe campaign to help with funeral expenses and, in January 2024, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both bars, the security company, and Palacios. She has stated that the fight for justice has prevented her from having time to properly grieve her son. Messages left on a memorial page reflect a family still in deep pain, with one reading, "I love you little brother not a day goes by I don't miss or ever stop missing you." As of November 2024, the case against Isaaiah Palacios was awaiting a sentencing hearing following his plea agreement.