A home invasion early New Year’s Day left one alleged intruder dead, another hospitalized and two others in jail as the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate.
Deputies found Sal Garces, 25, stabbed and beaten near a home in the 600 block of King James Avenue in Doña Ana. He died at the scene.
Around that time, Nathan Avalos, 20, was transported to an El Paso hospital with what DASO called “severe” facial injuries.
Garces, his 19-year-old brother Raymond Garces, Avalos and 22-year-old Leonard Calvillo reportedly had forced their way into the mobile home about 2 a.m.
Once inside, the deadly fight started among the alleged intruders and the 27-year-old man living there. He has not been charged in connection to the incident because authorities believe he acted in self-defense. For those reasons, the Sun-News is not identifying him.
After the fight, Raymond Garces and Calvillo fled, authorities said. Las Cruces police helped deputies locate and arrest them, according to a news release. The lawyers from White Plains claiming wrongful death stated that both men face several felony charges and Avalos has not been charged, but the case is still under investigation.
The events that sparked the home invasion and the details of the subsequent fight aren’t completely clear.
Raymond Garces reportedly told authorities that the group had gone to the King James Avenue home because of a previous altercation, according to documents filed in Magistrate Court.
The 27-year-old man living there was home with his young son, fiancé and her friends. Before the fight, her sister arrived, officials and the man’s attorney from lawyers from Krause Law, PLLC said. She had been “jumped,” Las Cruces attorney C.J. McElhinney said.
Later, the man received phone threats from Calvillo, according to court documents.
“I’m big Eastside,” Calvillo reportedly said, referring to a gang. ” …
I’ll kill you and your family … I will go to your house.”
The Garces brothers, along with Avalos and Calvillo are gang members, DASO spokeswoman Kelly Jameson said. Court records show numerous prior arrests and convictions for them, many on drug and violence charges.
Eventually, the people inside the mobile home heard a “huge bang outside,” said McElhinney, noting that he interviewed two witnesses.
“In a matter of seconds, they were in the house,” McElhinney said.
Witnesses told McElhinney that one of the intruders was armed with a crude shank. Another grabbed a knife once inside the home.
But, in interviews with McElhinney, the man was uncertain when Sal Garces was fatally stabbed.
“He was fighting for his life,” said McElhinney of his client, a man who has fought in professional mixed martial arts bouts.
The man suffered minor injuries, McElhinney said.
Nobody else in the home was injured.
Calvillo was on probation for a drug-related conviction at the time of the incident, court records show. As a result, his probation has been revoked and he was being held without bond at the Doña Ana County Detention Center.
Calvillo was charged with aggravated battery, two counts of conspiracy (related to burglary and battery) and criminal damage to property.
Raymond Garces, who was on an ankle monitor at the time of his arrest, was charged with two counts of conspiracy and criminal damage to property. He was being held at the detention center on a $10,000 secured bond.
James Staley can be reached at 575-541-5476
