Teens Recount Party Timeline

In two days of witness testimony in the trial for Estevan Montoya, charged with first-degree murder in the death of Fedonta “JB” White, some cirumstances of the case are clearer than others. The story, after all, involves a large group of teenagers who were drinking at a house party attended by more than 100 people.

After teenagers dominated the testimony Thursday, the events of Aug. 1, 2020—the night Montoya shot White at a gathering in Chupadero—are still murky. What is apparent, though, is that the evening included copious amounts of alcohol.

Everyone was enjoying themselves, Aaliyah Trujillo said on the stand. The partygoers were “drinking, smoking, listening to music, dancing and talking amongst each other.”

It was meant to be a “chill” party, a word several witnesses repeated. While the students who planned the event were expecting roughly 20 to 50 people, the party ballooned to more than 100. At one point, witnesses say they had a hard time moving around the home because of the number of people inside. One witness testified she drank 10 shots of alcohol; another said there were Jello shots and “a variety” of other alcoholic beverages on hand.

Angel Gonzales-Kingsbury testified that the group of high school students made a list of rules: “No violence, no guns, drama.” Because of the reputation of Montoya and his friends, known as the Southside Goons, Gonzales-Kingsbury told them “we don’t really want you guys there.”

But while some witnesses say people became intimidated when the Goons arrived, others say nobody gave it a second thought.

It was around 3 am when the party started to die down, witnesses said, although plenty of people remained. It had reached the point of the night, Gonzales-Kingsbury testified, when “everyone was throwing up” as she looked for her purse, which she later discovered underneath a “passed out” teen.

No one disputes the account that a confrontation among members of the Goons erupted outside. That quarrel then spilled over into an exchange between Montoya and White, which led to the shooting.

There’s no agreement, however, on the exact set of events from the time the two teens squared off with one another to the moment White was seen laying on the ground, although Alexandra Estrada, who saw the shooting, said White threw the first punch at Montoya.

“JB was walking up to Estevan. JB tried to punch Estevan, but Estevan missed it,” she said in Santa Fe’s District Courthouse. “JB was going after [him]. That’s when I saw Estevan shoot him.”

Prosecutors and attorneys defending Montoya disagree on two fundamental points: whether Montoya was running away from White, or inviting him to a fight; and whether the defendant turned to shoot at White, or fired the gun around his shoulder in a desperate attempt to escape.

In her testimony, Estrada said Montoya didn’t run away from White. Defense attorney Ben Ortega pointed to a pre-trial interview in which she said he was running away. In the redirect, however, prosecutors established the term “running” was the defense’s wording.

“If he wanted to run, he could have gotten out of there,” Estrada said.

The distinction relates to Montoya’s argument that he shot in self defense. His other attorney, Dan Marlowe, said it would have been impossible for the bullet to reach White’s spine had he been standing straight up. He told jurors in his opening statement that the pathology report will show White was chasing Montoya.

After the shot rang out, “it was instant panic,” said Trujillo.

“Everybody was running towards JB and trying to find their friends, which is what I was doing as well,” she said.

The jury learned more about White’s final moments on Thursday. Some who were at the party testified they never saw him drink or smoke anything, but Marlowe said the toxicology report will show he was drunk. According to witnesses, the basketball star who graduated from high school early to join the University of New Mexico basketball team couldn’t feel his legs while lying on the ground.

“Don’t let me die,” White said to the group who rushed to give aid, witnesses have said. The surrounding teens then decided to put White in the back of a car and meet the ambulance halfway. He died later at the hospital.

“We couldn’t fit him in the vehicle because he was so tall, so we had to put his legs through the window,” said Chris McKnight.

Jurors also asked the court if Montoya could remove his mask, giving the panel its first look at the defendant’s face. In the year and a half since he was arrested, it was clear the now 18-year-old has aged during his time in custody. How many more birthdays he’ll spend locked away, though, has yet to be seen. Prosecutors have said they will seek the maximum penalty that could land him in prison at least 30 years if convicted.