Bodycam footage caught by police investigating a shooting in New Mexico shows the moment a father learned his 13-year-old daughter had been killed.
The family of Amber Archuleta were blindsided when they learned the news of her death in July 2023, after she and her brother had gone to a friend's house in Questa.
As the children hung out together, the 14-year-old boy whose house they were at pulled out his father's gun and pulled the trigger.
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The bullet struck Amber, killing her.
Bodycam footage caught by responding offers shows the moment her father, Joshua Archuleta, learned EMS workers had pronounced Amber deceased.
A woman could be heard screaming in the background as Archuleta passed on the news, all the while trying to get his head round the tragic events.
Archuleta told KRQE he was at work when he received a call from his 14-year-old son, who was panicking on the phone.
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"He was like ‘dad, just get down here, Amber’s been shot,’ but I heard it in his voice, so I just threw everything down and came into Questa,” Archuleta recalled.
Upon arriving at the house, he found Amber dead.
“It was just awful, it was just completely horrible," he said.
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He added that the teen suspect was 'close friends' with his son.
"I never expected this to come out. I mean he spent holidays with us, and stuff and he seemed like a nice kid, but it’s turning out that he did have some really major issues,” he said.
The suspect in the case was charged with second-degree murder after the shooting, but when his case went to trial it ended in a hung jury.
In March 2024, family attorney Shane Maier told KOAT a date for a second trial had not yet been set, but was expected to take place in the coming months.
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His father, William Brown, became the first person to be charged under a newly introduced state law known as 'Bennie's Law', which requires adults to keep their guns out of the hands of minors.
His case went to trial earlier this year, during which prosecutors accused Brown of being partly responsible for Amber's death.
They showed the jury photos of guns found unsecured inside his home, but the defense argued that the state did not show evidence that Brown owned the firearm related to the shooting.
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The defense asked the judge to dismiss the case, but he said he would leave the decision up to the jury.
After about two hours of deliberation, the jury found Brown not guilty.
Remembering his daughter, Archuleta described Amber as a free-spirit, 'outgoing' and full of life.
“You know her and her brother [...] riding their bikes, she was the one popping the wheelies and ramping and stuff like that,” Archuleta said.
Emily Brown