GoFundMe page for Lincoln Harmons, 2, who died of a gunshot wound in Rio Rancho on December 8, 2021. (Source: GoFundMe)

The distraught mother called 911 saying her 2-year-old son had fallen from a chair at their Rio Rancho home and “there was blood everywhere,” according to court records. She could be heard begging the boy to breathe.

Her husband, Santa Fe Police officer Jonathan Harmon, told a dispatcher he was unsure where the blood came from. He said the boy must have hit his teeth because a few were missing.

When officers arrived, the cause was apparently clear: a spent casing and projectile were found near Lincoln Harmon, who died from a gunshot wound. A gun holster was on the kitchen counter, and the mother told police the firearm had been placed in a nearby cabinet.

A search warrant affidavit filed Dec. 9 in 13th Judicial District Court lays out a few details of the Dec. 8 incident in Enchanted Hills. Officers seized multiple guns, a holster, shell casing and tooth from the home.

“At present, it is considered an ongoing investigation, and therefore no determination regarding criminal violations or other disposition has been made,” Rio Rancho Police Capt. Joel Holt said in a Dec. 10 news release.

On Wednesday, he sent a news release saying RRPD could not provide updates about the ongoing investigation because the New Mexico Children’s Code prohibits release of the information. The City of Rio Rancho attorney’s office has forbidden the release of police reports involving children as victims or suspects for more than two years, citing the children’s code.

That interpretation of the children’s code conflicts with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Inspection of Public Records Act handbook, but the office of state Attorney General Hector Balderas has not taken action on complaints filed in the matter a year ago and two years ago.

By Wednesday, a GoFundMe for Lincoln Harmon’s Celebration of Life, with a goal of $8,000, had raised more than $24,000. The family could not be reached by phone.

According to the search warrant affidavit:

  • On Dec. 8, Courtney Harmon called 911 at 8:37 a.m. saying her son had fallen from a chair at their home in the 5700 block of Sandoval NE. She told dispatch the boy was “not awake” and her husband was doing CPR.
  • Her husband then got on the phone and told a dispatcher he was unsure where the blood was coming from but the boy “must have hit his teeth because a couple of teeth were missing.”
  • Arriving officers saw a shell casing and projectile near the boy and a tan gun holster on the kitchen counter.
    Courtney Harmon told police the gun had been placed in a kitchen cabinet.
  • Officers seized a projectile, shell casing, gun holster, two Glock pistols, two AR-15 rifles, ammunition and a child’s tooth.

Observer editor Argen Marie Duncan contributed to this report.