Javier Molina
Javier Molina, 34, of Las Cruces, wrote in a 2014 pen-pal listing that he loved sports, working out, reading and writing, and hoped to make friends. He was held at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility near Las Cruces, where he died in early March 2014 from stab wounds to his chest and abdomen, which the Office of the Medical Investigator recorded as reaching his heart and lungs. Prison officials said several men from the same gang attacked him in a sudden assault lasting less than two minutes while cell doors were open, and state police said a metal shank was found in a search of the cell pods. Federal prosecutors said gang leaders ordered the attack, and a man has pleaded guilty in federal court to murder and conspiracy in his death, while defense attorneys deny their client ordered it. Testimony at a 2018 federal trial described other men choking him before stabbing him repeatedly.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody. Prison officials and federal prosecutors say fellow inmates, acting on gang orders, stabbed him to death, and defense attorneys deny their client ordered the killing.
Reported by: New Mexico Corrections Department (the agency that held him); New Mexico State Police (outside investigators); federal prosecutors; federal court documents and plea agreement; Office of the Medical Investigator (medical examiner or coroner); Sun-News archives (reporters).