SANTA FE, NM (KFOX14/CBS4) — The family of a 19-year-old University of New Mexico athlete who was killed in a shooting with a New Mexico State student-athlete in November 2022 is suing NMSU, alleging that the institution fostered a “violent locker room culture.”
The family of Brandon Travis – Brenda Ware, Floyd Travis and Dennis Murphy – has filed a “wrongful death and civil rights violation” lawsuit against NMSU, accusing the university of fostering a “culture of gun violence” by allegedly allowing basketball players to openly carry weapons on campus, in locker rooms and on school-chartered buses.
The lawsuit stems from an incident in which, according to police records, Travis conspired with two other UNM members and an underage girl to lure then-NMSU athlete Mike Peake to the UNM campus in Albuquerque and assault him.
The incident resulted in a shootout in a campus parking lot between Travis and Peake, which was captured on surveillance cameras.
According to police reports, the fatal shooting may be connected to an incident a month earlier in which Peake and other NMSU student-athletes got into a fight at a UNM-NMSU football game in Las Cruces.
Ryan Sanders, the attorney representing Travis’ family in the lawsuit, said NMSU failed to investigate and discipline its basketball players after the incident. He described the incident not as a “brawl” but as a “brutal attack” on Travis by two NMSU players.
You can read Sanders’ full statement on the lawsuit below:
New Mexico State University took its wide-ranging institutional failings out on the students of our state’s two largest universities, resulting in a preventable tragedy. Brandon Travis and his family were victims of those failings. Because of NMSU’s policies and by developing and fostering what NMSU calls a “culture of bad behavior,” NMSU basketball players were allowed to tragically take Brandon’s life on November 19, 2022 in a preventable act of gun violence.
In the months leading up to the fatal shooting, NMSU tolerated and encouraged a growing culture of gun violence by allowing its basketball players to openly carry firearms on campus, in the locker room, and on school-chartered buses. Despite complaints from basketball players, NMSU turned a blind eye to the hazing, assaults, and name-calling within the team. When Brandon was suddenly and brutally attacked by two NMSU basketball players on October 15, 2022, NMSU again turned a blind eye—none of the NMSU players were investigated or disciplined. Instead, NMSU continued to foster the toxic, violent locker room culture that ultimately led to Brandon’s fatal shooting.
The Travis family seeks to hold NMSU accountable for its institutional failures, including the toxic and violent culture tolerated by school administrators that led to Brandon’s preventable and tragic death.
Neither Peake nor anyone else at NMSU has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting.
NMSU hired a law firm to investigate the case and, according to the findings, NMSU did not violate its “legal obligations in dealing with its student-athletes,” nor did the institution violate NCAA or WAC rules.
RELATED:No charges have been filed against NMSU basketball players and coaches following fatal shooting at UNM
However, charges have been filed against the other UNM students connected to the shooting – Jonathan Smith and Eli-Sha Upshaw – as well as the underage girl – Mya Hill.
However, all three escaped prison sentences.
Smith and Upshaw were sentenced to suspended sentences with conditions and conditional discharge, while Hill was sentenced to three years’ probation.
RELATED:Former UNM students avoid prison sentence after fatal shooting in 2022
RELATED: Teenager who lured former NMSU basketball player into deadly confrontation accepts deal
Below you can see the surveillance video of the shooting:
The video appears to show a man named Travis pointing a gun at Peake while the other two UNM students stand near Peake.
Then one of the other UNM students appears to hit Peake with a bat before Peake runs away and turns to exchange shots with Travis.
The video then appears to show Peake pulling out a gun and exchanging several shots with Travis as he attempts to flee.
The shootout ended with Travis succumbing to his injuries and Peake ending up in the hospital, where he required multiple surgeries to treat a leg wound.
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