New Mexico
KCBD Investigates: FBI report details new information in New Mexico murder, kidnapping case
LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The KCBD Investigates Team has obtained court documents that provide additional details about the murder and kidnapping case in Clovis, New Mexico.
At about 4:25 p.m. on May 4, law enforcement received a call about bodies found at the Ned Houk Memorial Park in Clovis.
Law enforcement identified the women as 23-year-old Taryn Allen and 23-year-old Samantha Harley Cisneros.
Law enforcement also found Cisneros’ five-year-old daughter in critical condition with a gunshot wound to her head.
The KCBD Investigates Team confirmed she remains in critical condition at a Lubbock hospital, but we’re told she is stable.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: KCBD Investigates: Arrest warrant details suspect’s motive in Clovis kidnapping, double homicide
According to FBI Special Agent Matthew Frye’s affidavit, Allen and Cisneros were found with multiple gunshot wounds. He stated Cisneros had additional injuries to her legs and back that looked like she had been hit and dragged by a vehicle.
While at the scene, law enforcement found a baby bottle and a stroller at the park, but they could not find a baby.
Law enforcement searched Cisneros’ vehicle and found a receipt to a nearby dollar store from earlier in the day.
Officers reviewed the dollar store’s surveillance video and confirmed Cisneros’ 10-month-old daughter, Eleia Maria Torres, was with her mother and big sister that day.
Law enforcement issued an Amber Alert for Torres.
At the scene, officers reported they found 9 mm handgun casings and a sideview mirror from the driver’s side of a maroon colored Honda.
Witnesses told law enforcement they drove by Ned Houk Memorial Park between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and said they saw a maroon car at the park and it looked like the driver was talking with the women.
Officers collected video surveillance from a McDonald’s near the park which showed a maroon Honda with a Texas license plate in the drive-thru lane around 2:40 p.m.
Officers contacted the owner of the vehicle who said he had rented the car to 26-year-old Alik Isaiah Collins through a car rental website.
The owner of the vehicle worked with law enforcement to use the car’s GPS monitoring system to track Collins.
Prior to the shooting, GPS showed the vehicle had traveled from Houston, where Collins lives, to Clovis, New Mexico.
The data also showed the vehicle at the park entrance at about 3:29 p.m.
Then, at 3:38 p.m., the vehicle left at speeds of up to 96 miles per hour, avoiding major highways as it headed east.
At 10:52 p.m., the vehicle arrived at a home in Abilene, Texas, that is about 270 miles from Clovis.
The vehicle continued to ping at that home through May 5 at 7:43 p.m.
At that point, the owner of the vehicle reported the car as stolen and remotely disabled it while it was still at the Abilene home.
The vehicle’s owner also gave law enforcement Collins’ cell phone number, which they say showed Collins to have been at the park on the day and time of the murders.
On May 5, 2024, and into May 6, 2024, law enforcement officers with the FBI and the Abilene Texas Police Department Narcotics Unit began conducting ground surveillance at the home.
At approximately 1:15 a.m. on May 6, law enforcement observed a black male pushing the maroon Honda out of the garage and into the street.
During the early morning hours of May 6, 2024, while law enforcement was preparing to execute a search warrant at the residence, they observed an Uber driver operating a Cadillac SUV arrive on the street in front of the home.
A black male, later determined to be Collins, exited the residence carrying a baby.
According to the undercover officers, Collins placed the baby on the rear passenger seat of the SUV and got into the front passenger seat.
That is when officers said Collins carjacked the Uber driver at gunpoint, and forced him out of the vehicle.
Then, officers said Collins drove away with the baby still in the car.
The Abilene Police Department reported Collins intentionally rammed into a police vehicle as they attempted to stop him.
Officers pinned the vehicle, forcing it to stop.
They took Collins into custody and recovered baby Torres who was uninjured.
Law enforcement reported finding a Glock handgun loaded with 9 mm ammunition on the floorboard of the vehicle.
The FBI confirmed Collins is not the parent, grandparent, brother, or uncle of this child, and does not have legal custody of the baby.
During this investigation, the FBI reported they had communicated with Collins last year.
The FBI reported Collins had called in September 2023 and said he wanted help finding his daughter.
During this phone call, the FBI reported he made threatening statements so they called in local law enforcement.
The FBI stayed on the phone with Collins until the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office arrived and took Collins in for a mental health evaluation.
The following month, on October 10, 2023, Collins called the FBI again and reported if law enforcement did not assist him with locating his missing five-year-old daughter, he would “start killing people and children.”
Collins stated that at one point he had kidnapped a woman and her son and then sent a picture of the kidnapped individuals to the FBI to pressure law enforcement to assist with locating his daughter.
The FBI reported Collins was intoxicated and could not provide his child’s true name but referred to her as “Rebecca.” He could not provide the child’s mother’s name either.
During these conversations, Collins said he did not have a weapon and did not intend to hurt anyone, but he made the threats to draw attention so law enforcement could help him find his daughter.
A second referral was made to local law enforcement who attempted contact with Collins but was unsuccessful.
A National Instant Criminal Background System alert was put in place to notify law enforcement if Collins attempted to purchase a firearm.
Additionally, Collins was prohibited from purchasing firearms in Texas as a result of his mental health evaluation.
At this time, the KCBD Investigates Team is working to learn how Collins got a gun.
We are also working to learn if there is any connection to Collins and the victims.
A public defender has been assigned to this case.
Loved ones of Allen and Cisneros have set up GoFundMe accounts to help pay for their funeral expenses.
According to Muffley Funeral Home’s website, Cisneros’ family is gathering at The Chapel Thursday, May 16 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Services will take place Friday, May 17 at noon with a burial following at Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens in Clovis.
The website states a visitation for Allen will be held on Saturday, May 18 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Chapel located at 1500 Thornton Street in Clovis, New Mexico.
A celebration of life will follow at 6 p.m. at Hillcrest Park located at 1001 Sycamore Street.
Copyright 2024 KCBD. All rights reserved.
New Mexico
Running hot and cold: New Mexico runners earn 17 All American awards at national XC championships
YOUTH SPORTS
Gianna Chavez earns fourth in boys 8-and-under race
New Mexico had 17 athletes earn All American awards at the 2025 National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship meet held Saturday at snowy Blue River Cross Country Course in Shelbyville, Indiana.
Gianni Chavez, of Albuquerque Athletics Track, earned his fourth USA Track & Field All American award with a fourth place finish in the 8-and-under boys 2K race. Chavez, an Osuna Elementary third-grader, ran his 2K race in a personal best time of 7 minutes, 44.9 seconds.
The top 25 individual finishers and top three teams earn USATF All American awards.
The Cougar Track Club 8U girls team, based out of Albuquerque, placed second and was led by Antonette Marquez, who finished 12th. Other CTC 8U girls team members include Kimberly Reed (31st), Viola Crabbe Maple (55th), Payton Pacheco (61st), Chloe Chino (85th), Emery Grieco (113th) and Zay’a Cheromiah (149th).
Others individual All American award winners include Ava Denton, of AAT, 16th in 13/14 girls 4K; Brynlee Reed, of CTC, 22nd in 15/16 girls 5K; Sihasin Fleg, of Running Medicine, 21st in 8U girls 2K; Eden Pino, of Running Medicine, 12th in 9/10 girls 3K; Nizhoni Fleg, of Running Medicine, 14th in 17/18 girls 5K; Brady Garcia, of Running Medicine, seventh in 17/18 boys 5K; Justice Jones, of Zia, 14th in 9/10 girls 3K; Emilo Otero Soltero, of Dukes Track Club, 12th in 9/10 boys 3K; Miles Gray, unattached, 21st in 9/10 boys 3K.
Also Saturday, at the Brooks Cross Country Nationals in San Diego, Eldorado’s Gianna Rahmer placed 17th in the girls championship 5K with a time of 18:00.7 and Moriarty’s Carmen Dorsey-Spitz placed 25th 18:09.4.
El Paso police seek suspect in East Side robbery, burglary
An unidentified man is suspected in an East Side robbery and a restaurant burglary on Oct. 20, 2025, in Crime Stoppers of El Paso’s Crime of the Week.
Provided by Crime Stoppers of El Paso
An Anthony, New Mexico man was sentenced to nearly two decades in federal prison for selling methamphetamine from a trailer on his parents’ property, authorities said.
A federal judge sentenced David Amaya, 43, to 19 years and seven months in prison on one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, New Mexico federal court records show. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after he serves his prison term.
U.S. District Judge Margaret I. Strickland handed down the sentence on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the federal courthouse in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Williams prosecuted the case.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Ryan Ellison and FBI Albuquerque Field Office Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris announced Amaya’s sentencing in a joint news release.
Amaya pleaded guilty to the charge in September as part of a plea agreement that dismissed one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, court records show.
Anthony, New Mexico man sells meth on parents’ property
FBI agents began investigating Amaya after he sold methamphetamine to a “controlled buyer” in July and August 2024, the news release states. Controlled buys are when law enforcement uses an undercover agent or a witness to purchase drugs from a suspected drug dealer.
The agents obtained a search warrant on Aug. 22, 2024, for a “specific tow-behind type trailer that Amaya was known to be living in and conducting narcotics transfers out of,” a federal complaint affidavit states. The trailer was located on property owned by Amaya’s parents in Anthony, New Mexico, the news release states.
The trailer did not have a restroom, but agents found a small makeshift bathroom structure with a porta-potty inside next to the trailer. The agents then obtained a warrant to also search the small bathroom structure.
The agents found “a large quantity of white crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine” throughout the trailer and bathroom structure, the affidavit states. In the bathroom, agents found a clothing hamper with “a gallon zip lock bag full of suspected methamphetamine” hidden inside.
Agents found a black Ruger .357 caliber handgun containing five rounds of .357 caliber ammunition and a black Mossberg 500 E410 gauge shotgun on the bed inside the trailer, the affidavit states. The news release states agents found “hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”
They also found about 4.42 grams of methamphetamine on the bed and another 26 grams under the bed, the affidavit states. Agents found eight more grams of methamphetamine on a nightstand.
Amaya told agents during an interview that the methamphetamine was his, he had acquired it over a period of time, and did not realize how much it was, the affidavit states. He added he “needed the guns for protection, so people would know he has them, making him safer,” the affidavit states.
In total, the agents found 1,183 grams of methamphetamine.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
GRANTS, N.M. – The City of Grants is canceling this year’s annual Christmas light parade, citing the safety of the public and their own officers.
Dozens of floats were supposed to roll down Santa Fe Avenue on Saturday night, but Grants police are holding off until next year after three incidents where someone shot at law enforcement officers.
“It was definitely a difficult decision, but due to the incident that took place on December 8, where law enforcement was shot at in the area of Santa Fe Avenue, we made that decision to protect the citizens of Grants,” says Grants Police Chief Maxine Monte.
She says a New Mexico State Police officer was shot at while making a traffic stop. The officer walked away uninjured, but this was too much for the chief.
“We’ve had three different incidents where law enforcement was shot at. One was May of 2025, the other one was August of 2025, and then the recent event of December 8 of 2025,” says Monte.
It’s not a risk the chief wants to take, and points out people would be standing exactly where the last shooting happened.
“We have a lot of citizens that attend our parade, and our main concern was that they were out in the open in the middle of the night, and in the same area that our latest shooting took place.”
Grant residents will be able to see the floats during the day on Saturday. But even some daylight isn’t convincing some residents.
“I’ll be staying home,” said Amy Brigdon. “There’s too many people in the world that want to see bad things happen to other people. I’m not one of them.”
Police still don’t have a suspect for this week’s attempted shooting. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with the Grants Police Department.
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