On the night of July 1 in Roswell, New Mexico—a city known more for its alien lore than its violent crime—tragedy struck in the quiet Southeast neighborhood of South Mulberry Avenue. What began as a 911 call about a woman found injured outside a home quickly unraveled into a suspected domestic homicide, marked by multiple gunshots, conflicting claims, and the intimate proximity of violence. By the next morning, 53-year-old Paul Sedillo-Reyes had been formally charged with the first-degree murder of 46-year-old Nadia Madrid, his on-and-off romantic partner. The grim timeline that followed—a 9:25 p.m. emergency call, a rushed hospital transport, a fatal pronouncement, and an overnight arrest—offers chilling clarity on the swiftness with which domestic disputes can escalate into irreversible loss.
According to Roswell Police Department investigators, the scene was initially approached as a possible outdoor shooting. Sedillo-Reyes himself was the one who called 911, telling dispatchers that his girlfriend had been shot and that he’d found her outside the residence. This version of events, while plausible at first glance, quickly began to unravel under closer examination. When responding officers arrived at the 1600 block of South Mulberry Avenue, they discovered Madrid lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds. She was alive but gravely injured. Despite the efforts of emergency personnel, she was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The sudden loss of Nadia Madrid, a woman still in the prime of midlife, now enters the ranks of New Mexico’s growing list of women lost to domestic violence—a category of crime that remains both underreported and heartbreakingly familiar to law enforcement and advocacy groups alike. Within hours of the initial report, investigators from RPD’s Criminal Investigations Division were combing the scene, looking not only for ballistic evidence but for inconsistencies between the suspect’s statements and the physical layout of the incident.
Their findings were damning. Though Sedillo-Reyes had claimed to find Madrid outside, detectives uncovered physical and forensic evidence suggesting that the shooting took place inside the residence the couple shared. Two firearms were recovered from the home, both believed to be connected to the fatal gunfire. That critical detail flipped the narrative: rather than a mysterious attack outside, the emerging conclusion was one of an internal, interpersonal eruption—gunfire exchanged not between strangers, but behind closed doors between people once bonded by intimacy.
The charges filed against Sedillo-Reyes reflect the gravity of this evolving narrative. First-degree murder—the most severe homicide charge—suggests premeditation or an act of extreme recklessness with disregard for human life. Additionally, the suspect was charged with tampering with evidence, implying that there was an attempt to alter, hide, or destroy key material before or after police arrived. Lastly, and perhaps most tellingly, Sedillo-Reyes faces the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm—a revelation that he had prior convictions severe enough to bar him from legally owning a weapon. That alone casts a long shadow over the nature of his access to the firearms found at the crime scene.
Following a search warrant executed at the home, investigators collected additional items reinforcing the belief that the shooting did not happen as initially described. The timing of Sedillo-Reyes’ arrest—6:30 a.m. the next morning—suggests that police acted swiftly once the evidence crossed the threshold into probable cause. He was booked into the Chaves County Detention Center without reported incident.
As investigators continue their work, many questions remain unanswered, at least to the public. What led to the shooting? Was there a history of domestic calls to the address? Had either party previously reached out to law enforcement or local agencies for help? Was alcohol or substance use a factor? While those answers will likely emerge as the case moves toward prosecution, what is already evident is the recurrence of familiar and deadly patterns: a volatile relationship, shared living space, and accessible firearms.
Domestic violence homicides are among the most predictable and preventable forms of violent death, yet they continue to rise across the United States. The involvement of firearms multiplies the lethality of such encounters. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a woman is five times more likely to be killed in a domestic dispute if her abuser has access to a firearm. In this case, Sedillo-Reyes was already legally prohibited from owning guns—a restriction that appears to have been tragically ineffective.
For the Roswell Police Department, the swiftness of the arrest and the coordination between patrol officers and the Criminal Investigations Division reflect procedural precision. But no amount of tactical success can offset the human tragedy at the core of this incident. A woman is dead. A family must now plan a funeral. A neighborhood has been marked by violence. And a man is behind bars, facing a future shaped by irreversible actions.
The 1600 block of South Mulberry Avenue, now the backdrop for one of the city’s most recent tragedies, is not known for violent crime. Like many American neighborhoods, it likely features modest homes, familiar routines, and quiet evenings. That illusion was broken on July 1, when gunshots rang out behind closed doors, and another domestic dispute ended with bloodshed.
As the investigation proceeds, prosecutors will work to build their case. Forensic reports, autopsy results, ballistics comparisons, and possibly witness testimony—if any exists—will all factor into the legal narrative. If the case goes to trial, it will force a public airing of private pain: how the relationship began, how it broke down, and what happened in the final minutes before the 911 call was placed.
Roswell, for its part, joins a tragic list of communities grappling with the fallout of intimate partner homicide. And as with all such cases, the hope is that this will serve not just as a moment of reckoning, but of learning: about the signs of abuse, the risks of armed domestic environments, and the urgent need for intervention before lives are lost.