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Father of shooting victim: ‘No parent should have to go through this’

Posted at 9:07 AM, Jul 14, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-14 11:07:06-04

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    Albuquerque, NM (KOAT) — Eric Mendoza is a retired firefighter who is used to emergencies.

Not like this one though. Two weeks ago, he got a call. His son Samuel, the boy they call BooBoo, was fighting for his life.

He had bullets in his back and leg.

“Honestly it’s life changing. It really is. It’s something that no parent should have to go through,” Mendoza said.

His once athletic, vibrant son is still in critical condition.

Mendoza says Samuel still can’t talk, but is improving.

“It’s going to be a marathon. This is not going to be something where he’s going to wake up one day and he’s going to be OK. This is going to be a very long road,” Mendoza said.

On the night of the shooting, Samuel was with his friend, Isaiah Villanueva at a house party in the south valley.

Isaiah had already joined the Army. Samuel planned to follow in his footsteps.

Investigators say Angel Grado and Timothy Malek came to the party with guns and started shooting.

Isaiah did not survive. Investigators charged Grado with his murder. A spokesman for the district attorney says they’ll look at ballistics and DNA to decide what Malek’s role was in all this. Right now he’s charged as a juvenile.

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