LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) _ A lawsuit alleges Wal-Mart sold ammunition to an unstable man accused of fatally shooting another man six hours later in Las Cruces.
Kenneth Rauch, 49, of Las Cruces has been accused of killing Eusebio Escobedo, 27, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on April 25, 2005.
Charges against Rauch include first-degree murder and attempted murder. He is being held at the Las Vegas Medical Center. No trial date has been set.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in state district court, lists the plaintiffs as Escobedo's children, fiancee and estranged wife.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges Rauch was under the influence of alcohol and mentally disturbed when he bought shotgun shells at a Wal-Mart in Las Cruces.
Wal-Mart has a policy governing the sale of firearms, including background checks and determining if prospective customers are under the influence, said Ken Egan of Las Cruces, the plaintiffs' attorney.
But when Rauch bought the shotgun shells, there was no such policy governing the sale of ammunition. The lawsuit alleges Wal-Mart employees sold the ammunition to an unstable man, asking few, if any, questions.
John Simley, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said the company had not seen the complaint.
"We don't know what the complaint says. As a result, we can't comment on something we haven't seen," he said Wednesday in a telephone call from Bentonville, Ark.
Escobedo, his fiancee and her 3-year-old son had stopped at a Las Cruces gasoline station when a a man fired a gunshot into the hood of their car, police have said.
The man then walked to the driver's side window and shot into the car, hitting Escobedo, who had thrown himself across his fiancee as she sat in the passenger's seat, authorities said.
