The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the estate of the late Brandon Travis, seeks to hold New Mexico State University liable for encouraging a “culture of violence.” Notably, Travis was killed after brandishing a firearm and shooting at a rival athlete–an athlete Travis himself had lured to the University of New Mexico in hopes of exacting “revenge.”
The family of a University of New Mexico basketball player who was shot and killed by a rival athlete have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against New Mexico State University, its board of regents, and several athletics officials.
According to The Santa Fe New Mexican, Brandon Travis was a 19-year-old student at the University of New Mexico when he and several friends were involved in an altercation with N.M.S.U. athlete Mike Peake outside of an on-campus residence hall in Albuquerque.
Both Travis and Peake brandished firearms within moments of meeting and exchanged shots after Travis’s friends fled. Peake was struck in the leg as he tried to run away, but turned around to fire toward Travis.
Travis, notes the New Mexican, was hit by a bullet and pronounced dead at the scene.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the late Travis’s estate by his parents, Brenda Ware and Floyd Travis.
Attorneys for the family say that several of the defendants named in the complaint—including New Mexico State University athletics director Mario Moccia, former basketball coach Greg Heiar, and then-assistant coach Dominique Taylor—were “aware of, and actively fostered, N.M.S.U. players’ firearm possession and use in violation of” state law and campus policy.
Police reports indicate that Travis had engineered the confrontation, asking a female student at the University of New Mexico to “lure” Peake onto campus.
While Peake believed that he would be meeting the woman for a sexual encounter, he also took a firearm with him, which defendant and former N.M.S.U. assistant coach Dominique Taylor allegedly concealed after the shooting.
“The negligent acts and omissions of defendants unreasonably endangered the health, safety, and wellbeing of defendant Brandon Travis, ultimately resulting in his untimely death,” the lawsuit claims.
“New Mexico State University unleashed its far-reaching institutional failures on the students of our State’s two largest universities resulting in a preventable tragedy. Brandon Travis and his family were victims of these failures,” attorney Ryan Sanders told KTSM-9. “Under NMSU’s policies and through the development and encouragement of a ‘culture of bad behavior,’ as designated by NMSU, NMSU basketball players were enabled to tragically take Brandon’s life in a preventable act of gun violence on November 19, 2022.”
“The Travis family seeks to hold NMSU accountable for its institutional failures, including the toxic, violent culture condoned by its administrators, that led to Brandon’s preventable and tragic passing,” Sanders said.
KTSM-9 notes that Travis’s friends have since been convicted of varied charges.
Peake, in contrast, was never charged with a crime.
Sources
California family files lawsuit against NMSU
Family of UNM student killed in on-campus shooting sues NMSU, coaches
Wrongful-death lawsuit filed against NMSU by estate of UNM student
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