APD: Boyfriend shot, killed in self-defense following spat
Shooter most likely will not be charged
Leandra Davidson told officers she was in shock — waiting two hours to call 911 — after a friend shot her boyfriend Marlin Lovato during a fight.
Davidson told officers Lovato was still alive, but by the time officers got into the apartment, the 21-year-old lay dead on the floor. Since determining the shooting was likely self-defense, police have released few details on the events leading to Lovato’s death at the Sun Village Apartments on June 5.
What police have released is that officers detained three people, including the shooter, collected a firearm and sealed two vehicles as evidence.
The file now sits on the desk of prosecutor Joshua Jimenez, waiting for review by the District Attorney’s Office to determine if it was justifiable or if any charges will be filed.
Lovato had a history of domestic violence against Davidson and was arrested last April for a charge of aggravated battery against a household member with great bodily harm.
According to lapel footage and 911 calls obtained by the Journal, Davidson and two friends fled the apartment after Lovato was shot, smoked pot and sat in the parking lot for two hours before calling police.
The incident began with a 911 call around 3 p.m. from a Sun Village employee who saw Davidson get thrown out of a moving car, allegedly by Lovato.
The employee let Davidson into the office and locked the doors, but Davidson refused paramedics and went to the apartment she shared with Lovato to move her things out.
Then, around 8 p.m., Davidson called police herself — this time to report a shooting.
“I was just trying to leave my boyfriend and it just went out of control,” Davidson told the dispatcher. “I’d really just like the cops to come out here so I can file a report.”
When officers arrived, they found a distraught Davidson with two friends — a man and woman — in the parking lot.
In the lapel footage, Davidson told police her friends were helping her move out when Lovato showed up, closing the door and holding all three them at gunpoint. That’s when Davidson’s friend, identified only as Dominic, grabbed another gun off the bed and shot Lovato.
Davidson told officers Lovato was still alive when the three
Nestled in the lush, open fields of the community of Bosque, just a stone’s throw from the Rio Grande, Double LL Farms has been going strong, producing quality race horses since 1991.
Racing has always been in the blood of founder W.L. Mooring, with his love of speed starting with his own fleet feet growing up in Brady, Texas. During his high school career, Mooring was pretty much the fastest thing on two feet in the prep track community.
“I got some scholarships to run track and go to college after high school,” Mooring recalls. “But ...”
Life and the ways of the heart took precedent and Mooring ended up married and living in California, far from his Texas roots and father, a man he typically refers to as “daddy.”
“Daddy and I were like this,” he says, holding up his index and middle fingers pressed tight together. One didn’t overlap the other but rather the two digits stand side-by-side, supporting each other equally.
His father, Bill, never finished high school but made sure Mooring and his older brother, Jerry, had everything they needed and never missed a football game or track meet.
In 1972 he came to New Mexico as an assistant trainer under Denzel Kunz. For years, Mooring trained race horses, from El Paso to Santa Fe and points in between.
Traveling in the circles he did, Mooring eventually met Charlie Myers, owner of Cattlemen’s Livestock Auction in Belen. Mooring, Myers and three other partners began buying saddle horses.
“We were breaking them and the cowboys were finishing them,” Mooring said. “I trained a couple, and after about a year, Charlie says, ‘You’ve created a monster,’ and turned it all over to me.”
Realizing that he didn’t want to horse trade forever, Mooring moved into breeding, starting with two quarter horses named Smooth Bug and The Adamas. The first year he was in business, the operation bred 98 mares. The business kept growing, and it was up and down, but always good, Mooring said. On average, the farm produces about 150 foals a year.
There are 10 stallions at the Double LL — thoroughbreds Capitol Guy, Dome and Laugh Track, and quarter horses Eye on Corona, First Moonflash, Jess A Chicks, Mr. PYC To You, Rock Solid Jess, Ten Can Sailer and Sixes Royal.
At about 120 acres, Double LL Farms consists of two locations — the south farm, where most of the breeding and foaling happens, and the north farm, where sale prep is the main focus. It has a resident veterinarian, medical crew and foaling crew that provide care and service 24 hours a day.
The core of Moorings business is breeding, either on site or by shipping semen collected from one of the studs across the globe, as well as boarding and stabling other people’s horses.
“I don’t own a hair on them,” Mooring said. “People ask me what I do and well … I tell them I pimp studs.”
He has a good chuckle at his description of the business.
“I love what I do,” he says, still smiling. “Racing is a part of my life.”
Bringing the next generation of high-performance horses into the world is a 24/7 commitment, Mooring says, and at 73 years old, he’s making plans to hand off that responsibility to the next generation of humans – his daughter Nicole, the daughter of his fourth wife Dee, and farm foreman, Jaime Cervantes.
“Jaime is like a son to me. He has so much potential and he knows this business,” Mooring said.
Cervantes has been working at Double LL for 17 years after coming to the United States in 1999 from Mexico. He didn’t speak English, so Dee took it upon herself to help him learn the language and the couple gave him the chance to go to school and become a U.S. citizen.
“I liked horses since I was little and now I get to be around them every day,” Cervantes said. “Dee and W.L. helped me go to school. Dee is like a second mom.”
Nicole has been commuting to the farm from Rio Rancho for 13 years and has recently started construction on a home near by.
As the heirs apparent to the Double LL, Nicole and Cervantes both say when it’s their turn to take the reins, not much will change. They’ll keep doing things the way Mooring taught them.
“We will keep doing it like always – treat clients right. You need clients to be successful,” Cervantes said.
Nicole said she envisions keeping the farm much the way it is now.
“I wouldn’t want to change it, make it more modern,” she said. “I want to keep it true to what he started.”
Mooring waves away anything he might have done to build the business.
“I want Jaime and Nicole to be the focus. Those two are going to continue on,” he said. “This isn’t about me. These two are the kids of my heart.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Dee has been in the saddle since before she was in elementary school. Married to Mooring for 16 years, Dee moved to Corrales in 1979 in search of a better climate for her two children who have asthma.
“This isn’t just a business. This is a way of life. The guys who work here? They don’t know what Christmas is, the weekend,” Dee said, who ironically has horse allergies that worsen every spring. “It is not boring. There’s always something new going on every day. The best part is watching the love W.L. has for his horses.”
She describes her husband as a man of great integrity, honor and principle, a man who will do for everybody.
“You either love him or hate him, but he will always do what’s right,” she said.
When it’s mentioned that Mooring wants to emphasize the roles of herself, Cervantes and Nicole in the success of the farm, Dee said the two “kids” will carry on his legacy without disappointment, but looks you dead in the eye and sets the record straight.
“Oh honey. W.L. Mooring is Double LL Farms.”