Son-in-law Remanded in Custody Following Disturbing Incident at Graduation Ceremony

A New Mexico woman was shot in the neck during her son’s graduation Wednesday, with the woman’s stepson charged in the incident.

Cristian Bencomo, 21, was arrested after his stepmother, Victoria Bencomo, was shot, according to KOAT-TV.

Victoria Bencomo was trying to hug Cristian when she was shot, police said, according to KRQE-TV.

“Somebody came up and shot my sister…right in the neck,” Angel Chester, a sister of the victim, said.. “I keep thinking that it’s a bad dream that I’ll wake up from.”

Chester said Victoria Bencomo, invited family members to the Albuquerque Convention Center where her son was graduating from high school from the Southwest Secondary Learning Center Charter School with the ceremony taking place inside the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Victoria Bencomo was hugging her son when Cristian Bencomo came near. She attempted to hug her stepson and was then shot in the neck.

“After he shot her and she fell to the ground, he started stomping on her head,” Chester said, noting that bystanders held down the suspect until police could arrive.

“We’re just still in complete shock that this even happened,” she said.

Cristian Bencomo, 21, is accused of shooting his step-mom when she went to hug him at the Convention Center last night. Police say she was attending her son’s graduation ceremony when she was shot by Bencomo in the neck. He was held down by bystanders until police arrested him. pic.twitter.com/1l8ERM3L6P

— Gabrielle Burkhart (@gburkNM) May 9, 2024

“We made it all the way through graduation – it was really lovely until it wasn’t,” witness Mary Ward said, according to KOB-TV.

“They were like, OK students, go give the rose to someone who has impacted you or is meaningful to you. I was watching my student, she was coming to the right of me, then I looked to the left, to the other side, there was a crowd of people and then there was a big pop,” she said.

“All of sudden they started shouting, ‘Get down, get down!’ and like, it just, it was overwhelming because that situation is so scary,” Ward said.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman said the incident “was isolated between the two of them and their relationship, not a broader thing, it was a domestic situation.”

Family members were left struggling to understand, according to KRQE.

“I just…I don’t understand, you know I’m just scared for her and I just want her to be OK,” Lisa Gutierrez Smith, the victim’s mother, said.

Family members said Victoria Bencomo is in critical but stable condition.

Cristian Bencomo has been charged with aggravated battery and unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon.  He was confined to the Metropolitan Detention Center, according to KOB.

According to The Sacramento Bee, Cristian Bencomo is being held without bail.