Salcido v. City of Las Vegas

── Salcido v. City of Las Vegas ── Case No.: 24-2125 Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: March 17, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 24-2125 Document: 58-1 Date Filed: 03/17/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS March 17, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ ANGEL SALCIDO, personal representative of the wrongful death estate of Cristal Cervantes; WANDA MARTINEZ, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. No. 24-2125 CITY OF LAS VEGAS; CHIEF ADRIAN CRESPIN; SGT. MARK LUCERO; LT. HUGO MUNOZ; NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY; NEW MEXICO STATE POLICE; SGT. ELIAS RAEL; SAN MIGUEL COUNTY; SAN MIGUEL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE; PATROLMAN MIGUEL SENA; DEPUTY JAYME VIGIL; UNDERSHERIFF MIKE PADILLA; JOHN DOES, 1-10, Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 1:21-CV-01222-KG-JMR) _________________________________ Arturo B. Nieto of Nieto Law Office, LLC, Los Lunas, New Mexico, for Plaintiffs- Appellants. Nicholas S. Autio (David M. Wesner with him on the brief), of NM Local Government Law, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Defendants-Appellees San Miguel County, San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office, Undersheriff Mike Padilla, and Deputy Jayme Vigil.  Appellate Case: 24-2125 Document: 58-1 Date Filed: 03/17/2026 Page: 2 Haley R. Grant (Blaine T. Mynatt, with her on the brief), of Mynatt Springer P.C., Las Cruces, New Mexico, for Defendants-Appellees City of Las Vegas, Chief Adrian Crespin, and Sgt. Elias Rael. Luis Robles of Robles, Rael & Anaya, P.C., Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Defendants- Appellees New Mexico Department of Public Safety, New Mexico State Police, Lt. Hugo Munoz, Sgt. Mark Lucero, and Patrolman Miguel Sena. _________________________________ Before HARTZ, MORITZ, and EID, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ MORITZ, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ During an hours-long standoff with law enforcement in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Alejandro Alirez shot his girlfriend, Cristal Cervantes, and her grandfather, Victor Cervantes, inside their home. Alirez livestreamed the encounter on Facebook for nearly 51 minutes. Cristal was alive for much or all of the livestream. When Alirez finally surrendered, hours after the initial shots, she was beyond help. Neither Cristal nor Victor survived. Angel Salcido, Cristal’s personal representative, and Wanda Martinez, Cristal’s mother, (together, plaintiffs) sued the responding law-enforcement agencies and officials 1 for failing to intervene, raising claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New Mexico state law. The district court granted defendants summary judgment across the 1 Plaintiffs sued the City of Las Vegas, its police department, and several municipal employees (the City); San Miguel County, its sheriff’s office, and several county employees (the County); and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, the state police, and several state employees (the State) (together, defendants). Plaintiffs later removed the City’s police department as a named defendant. 2  Appellate Case: 24-2125 Document: 58-1 Date Filed: 03/17/2026 Page: 3 board, conc