Rio Rancho woman faces felony charges after domestic shooting scare

A domestic dispute in a Rio Rancho neighborhood escalated into gunfire, a SWAT response and felony charges after police said a 29-year-old woman fired at a man during an argument near Loma Colorado Boulevard and Idalia Road.

Amy Lara, 29, of Rio Rancho, was arrested April 18 and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of shooting at a dwelling or occupied building, two counts of negligent use of a deadly weapon, two counts of tampering with evidence and two counts of child abuse. Police said no one was injured, but the case still triggered a high-risk response because officers believed an armed suspect may still have been inside the home.

The statement of probable cause described a domestic fight between Lara and Pablo Hernandez. Hernandez told officers the argument started over housework and that Lara began shooting at him. He said she fired about five rounds. Officers later saw live rounds on the ground and detained Hernandez at the front door while SWAT was brought in because of the danger and the uncertainty inside the residence.

Lara later came out without incident after the tactical response, police said. When investigators cleared the home, they found bullet holes in the front entrance walls, adding physical evidence to the account that gunfire had struck the residence itself. The arrest was tied to the 1600 block of Lark Drive, underscoring how quickly a dispute in a residential part of Rio Rancho can spill into a larger public-safety operation.

Lara gave police a different version of events, saying the pair had been drinking and argued over her partner not being around enough and not cleaning up. She also told officers the rounds found in the yard came from Hernandez’s earlier trip to the mesa with cousins. Those competing accounts left prosecutors with a case that now includes allegations tied not only to gunfire, but also to evidence tampering and child abuse.

Under New Mexico law, shooting at a dwelling or occupied building is a fourth-degree felony when it does not result in great bodily harm. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is defined separately in state statute, and the additional charges raise the stakes further. If convicted, Lara could face more than 10 years in prison, making the case one of the more serious domestic-violence prosecutions to come out of a Rio Rancho neighborhood call this spring.