A 25-year-old man is being charged with murder after he allegedly shot and killed his own father at Ortega’s Indian Jewelry Store in Continental Divide.
On Dec. 3, around 3:45 pm, an employee of the jewelry store located at 19 State Hwy. 122 reported that gunshots went off in the store’s bathroom. They informed Metro Dispatch that a man, who was later identified as Trenton Bailey, was now standing outside the business.
In an interview with the Sun, McKinley County Sheriff James Maiorano III said that Trenton and his father, Kenneth Bailey, had allegedly been traveling from Texas to Arizona when their car broke down near the Phillips 66 gas station by the jewelry store. They reportedly pushed the car to the jewelry store and then went inside to wait for a family member to come pick them up.
Maiorano said his deputies believe the two men were traveling from one mental facility to another to get Trenton some treatment for a reported mental illness.
While waiting for a family member to pick them up, the two men entered the jewelry store’s restroom. That’s where Trenton allegedly shot his father three times in the head with a handgun.
When the two employees at the jewelry store heard the gunshots, one of them ran out of the building to the Phillips 66 gas station, where she called Metro Dispatch. The other employee hid in a secure location.
After shooting his father, Trenton reportedly walked out of the restroom. According to the police report, he turned to the store’s employee and said, “Can you clean up that mess?” The employee responded by saying that they would, and then Trenton said, “Do you know what I mean?”
McKinley County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Trenton outside of the jewelry store. When they entered the building, they found the bathroom door shut and a puddle of blood leaking out from underneath it. Kenneth was found inside the bathroom. He was declared deceased at the scene.
Trenton’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10.
