Peralta family awarded $1.5 million in VCSO settlement

Attorney explains VCSO wrongful death settlement

The attorney for a Peralta family that received a $1.5 settlement in a wrongful death settle…

UPDATE: The attorney for a Peralta family has clarified how a recent wrongful death suit was settled.

During a phone interview on Nov. 29, Laura Ives, with Ives & Flores P.A., said there are four beneficiaries to the settlement in the wrongful death of Michael Gabaldon, who was shot and killed by a Valencia County Sheriff’s Office deputy in September 2024.

In an October 2024 petition for appointment of personal representative to pursue a wrongful death claim filed by Gabaldon’s widow, Patricia Gabaldon, there are four “potential statutory beneficiaries” listed - Patricia Gabaldon, the couple’s minor son, D.G., and two other children, Joshua Gabaldon and Megan Carrasco.

When asked why all four potential beneficiaries weren’t named in the May 2025 complaint brought by Patricia Gabaldon on behalf of D.G., Ives said, “that’s how wrongful death suits work…you don’t name everybody.”

The attorney said typically the money from a wrongful death settlement is sent to the law firm that brought the claim and is then distributed to the beneficiaries of the estate. Settlements with minors have to be court approved, generally, she said.

Ives said the settlement payments to the three adult beneficiaries have been distributed but she could not provide documentation of the distributions because it was private information of the clients.

“That’s just how it works. If you look at any wrongful death, when a minor is not involved, the whole amount goes to the law firm,” she said.

Law firms typically retain 35 percent of the settlement payment, and that was the case for the Gabaldon settlement, Ives said. 35 percent of a $1.5 million settlement is $525,000.

Ives asked the News-Bulletin where it got the settlement details from, during the Saturday interview. As reported in the Nov. 27 article, the settlement agreement between Valencia County and the New Mexico County Insurance Authority was released to the newspaper after an Inspection of Public Records Act request was filed with the authority.

The document from the NMCIA indicated $1,266,810.49 is to be paid to the Ives & Flores law firm and $342,462.87 to D.G. in four payments.

According to Ives, the NMCIA’s release of the agreement violates the court order sealing certain court records pertaining to the settlement that benefited D.G.

She cited paragraph 3 of the order to seal, which reads, “But for the court’s duty to review and consider the terms of the proposed settlement, all matters related to these transactions and agreements would be confidential and outside the public view.”

Ives said she would take up the matter with the NMCIA .

A Valencia County family has reached a $1.5 million settlement in the shooting death of their husband and father by a Valencia County Sheriff’s Deputy.

In May, Patricia Gabaldon, widow of Michael Gabaldon, 51, filed a wrongful death suit on behalf of the couple’s 16-year-old son against Valencia County.

Gabaldon, 51, was shot and killed on Sept. 29, 2024, by a Valencia County Sheriff’s Office deputy at his home on La Ladera Road after repeated 911 calls in regards to a neighbor, Thomas Rodriguez, who was reported to be shooting at houses and driving recklessly on the dirt road outside the homes in the area.

The suit alleges Rodriguez, 46, was a long-standing problem in the neighborhood, after moving in with his mother in 2022, who lived next to the Gabaldon family.

The lawsuit argued VCSO created the situation that caused the use of force against Michael Gabaldon and created a dangerous situation because they repeatedly refused to take action against Rodriguez, took no action to confiscate his guns under the state’s Red Flag law, repeatedly abandoned the dangerous scene created by Rodriguez that day, and told Patricia and Michael Gabaldon they could do anything they needed to protect their home and their family.

“There’s nothing in this world that can make it right. There never will be. I will live and die with this pain for the rest of my life. Nothing can fix this. The money? Nothing. There’s no real justice that we will ever, ever have in this world for what they did to us,” Gabaldon’s widow Patricia, told KOAT in a Nov. 17 interview.

The Oct. 8 settlement agreement between the New Mexico County Insurance Authority and Patricia Gabaldon, which was released to the News-Bulletin after a public records request was made, details the payout break down of the $1.5 million settlement.

The Gabaldon’s son will receive a total of $342,462.87 starting with a lump sum of $25,000 when he turns 18, followed by three more payments at ages 20, 25 and 30. The remaining $1,266,810.49 will be paid to the Ives & Flores, PA law firm.

Although a settlement was reached with the NMCIA, the final court documents in the case are sealed from public view.

A motion was filed by Patricia Gabaldon’s attorney Laura Ives to seal the report of the guardian ad litem appointed to her son, as well as the order approving the settlement and the transcript of the proceedings to approve the settlement.

In the motion, Ives argues the guardian ad litem — a neutral person appointed by the court to represent the best interests of a child — had to disclose intimate details and facts about the Gabaldon’s son, identified only as D.G. in the suit, and his family to the court.

“The intimate details of the minor child and his family are not matters of public concern ...,” Ives wrote in her motion.

While the 16-year-old isn’t identified in the lawsuit, Ives argues disclosure of details in the GALs report could identify him.

Thirteenth Judicial District Court Judge Cindy Mercer granted the order sealing the report, order and transcripts.

“Disclosure of the facts of the child’s claims, conditions, status and needs to the public would cause the minor child unwarranted embarrassment and other serious and significant injury,” Mercer wrote in her order. “The child’s overriding interests support sealing the court record.”

VCSO Sheriff Denise Vigil said in a written statement in response to the settlement neither she or the county agreed with, authorized or participated in the settlement, expressing concern about the precedent the settlement “sets for the future claims involving law enforcement officers and the broader implications for public trust.”

Vigil maintains the officers involved in the shooting acted “lawfully and appropriately in defense of themselves and others. Settlements of this kind, while authorized solely by New Mexico County Insurance Authority under the coverage agreement, have consequences for member counties, including increased premiums that limit the ability to deliver essential public services.”

According to reports on the incident from New Mexico State Police, the agency tasked with investigating the shooting, the morning following the shooting, Patricia told state police officers her husband was attempting go protect his family.

“The system (law enforcement) failed ...,” the officer wrote in the report. “She mentioned that they begged law enforcement to intervene.”

In reports by NMSP officers on the night of the shooting, it’s indicated Rodriguez pointed a firearm at the couples teenage son, prompting Gabaldon to arm himself and go outside to confront Rodriguez. This happened immediately before VCSO deputies responded to the home on La Ladera for a third time that day for a call of shots fired.

The night his father was killed, D.G. told NMSP Michael Gabaldon was pointing his gun at Rodriguez when deputies approached him from behind. He said deputies gave Gabaldon “three seconds” before they fired.

Just before 10:30 p.m., body camera footage shows a deputy arriving at the Gabaldon home on La Ladera, and before exiting the unit he advises the dispatcher, “neighbor has a gun.” As he gets out of the car, there is the sound of a single gunshot.

He points his patrol rifle toward the northeast corner of the property at 116 La Ladera, according to information provided by the sheriff’s office at the time of the shooting, and yells, “Hey! Drop it! Drop it! ... I am going to shoot! Drop it! Drop it!” After seven seconds of yelling commands, he fires his rifle once.

“(D.G.) indicated Michael yelled something over shoulder back to the arriving deputies. At some point during those few seconds, Michael had fired several rounds from his weapon towards Thomas...,” the NMSP report reads.

Gabaldon’s son told officers he was unsure if they were warning shots or if he was trying to hit Rodriguez. He then demonstrated to officers that Gabaldon was still pointing his weapon towards Rodriguez while yelling over his shoulder at the deputies, the report reads.

Gabaldon was shot once by a VCSO deputy. That night, deputies climbed a locked gate to get to Gabaldon in his yard and provide medical assistance. He died after being transported to the Albertson’s parking lot on N.M. 6 to meet the Lifeguard helicopter.