COURTS
Shooter in 2025 UNM dorm killing takes plea deal
John Fuentes faces up to 12 years in prison in the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy
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A teenager charged in the shooting death last year of 14-year-old Michael LaMotte during a drug-fueled night at the University of New Mexico has taken a plea deal and faces a 12-year prison sentence, court records show.
John Fuentes, 19, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in LaMotte鈥檚 shooting death last summer inside a UNM dorm room.
Fuentes entered the plea agreement on Friday before 2nd Judicial District Judge Brett Loveless.
Prosecutors agreed to cap Fuentes鈥� prison sentence at 12 years followed by five years of supervised probation, according to the plea agreement.
Court officials must complete a sentencing evaluation before his sentencing hearing is scheduled, a spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney鈥檚 Office said.
His trial on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated battery and six other charges, previously scheduled for Sept. 14, has been canceled.
Prosecutors alleged that shortly after midnight on July 24, 2025, Fuentes fatally shot LaMotte in the head and fired a second shot that grazed Daniel Archuleta, a provisional UNM student, in the back of the head.
Fuentes, who was 18 at the time, was treated and released at a hospital and arrested soon after the killing. A judge ordered him last year to remain in custody pending resolution of his case.
During an August 2025 pretrial detention hearing for Fuentes, prosecutors said he was drunk and high on LSD, cocaine and marijuana when he shot LaMotte while playing video games inside a Casas del Rio dorm room. Police say Fuentes also shot Archuleta, the teen who lived in the dorm room. Fuentes then fled the dorm.
LaMotte, who had been in the dorm with the group for several hours, had marijuana in his system at the time of his death, according to a toxicology report. No other drugs were detected.
Gunfire was first reported on the UNM campus shortly before midnight when a dorm resident called 911 and said he heard four or five gunshots close by. Hours later, UNM police entered the Casas Del Rio dorm room and found LaMotte slumped over a chair.
The 14-year-old died from a single gunshot wound to the front of his head, according to an autopsy.
LaMotte's older half-brother, Zion Miera, also was present in the dorm room the night of the shooting.
Miera, 20, pleaded guilty in April to tampering with evidence, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of cocaine and was sentenced to complete the court's Young Adult Court diversion program in lieu of up to six years in prison.
Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.
