8-12-2025 2:20am

A Family Plea for Justice: Concerning the Murder of Donovan Contreras Continues 6 Years Later

Chris Edwards Editor

A Family Plea for Justice: Concerning the Murder of Donovan Contreras Continues - AlamogordoTownNews.org

Six years after the death of a 24 year old young man, at the Motel 6, Room 216 in Alamogordo; the family still seeks answers to facts that don’t add up.

Donovan Marquis Contreras, age 24, passed away on July 12, 2019. He was born on March 16, 1995 to Jessica (Contreras) Smith and Corey Smith in Alamogordo, New Mexico. After graduating from Academy Del Sol High School in 2013, Donovan moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he completed a certification as a security officer. His passions included playing basketball, listening to a variety of music and hanging out with family and friends. Donovan’s loyalty was indescribable and he had a smile that no one will ever forget. He loved to make people laugh and took pride in putting a smile on someone’s face. He had a positive impact on many, especially those closest to him.

Donovan is survived by his son, Angelo Aiden Contreras and his brother, Davion Rey Smith, whom are both his pride and joy, along with his cousins, Sergio Perez, who was more like his brother, and Dominic Perez whom he had a special place for in his heart.

Donovan is also survived by his parents, Corey and Jessica Smith, and additional siblings Deshaun and Damarcus Smith; his maternal grandparents, Rudy and Rita Contreras, both whom he had a very close and special bond with; his paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Smith and Evelina Smith, whom he also loved very much; his aunts, Monica Contreras, whose advice he often leaned on, and Nicole Smith; his uncle, Jerry Smith Jr.; and several beloved other aunts, uncles, cousins, and many, many friends, all whom he loved dearly.

The surviving family of Donovan for 6 years has been seeking answers. They seek justice for his death of which they are convinced was a murder. The family has pleaded for the justice system, the Alamogordo Police and or the 12th Judicial District DA to re-open its doors to conducting an independent investigation into Donovan’s death.

AlamogordoTownNews.org and KALHRadio.org was approached three years ago by Rudy Contreras the grandfather of the deceased, along with the family of Donovan Contreras desperately seeking the police or the district attorney to review the case. The Grandfather, Rudy, is a passionate advocate attempting to get the city, county, state or feds, or whoever will take on the challenge of conducting an honest and unbiased investigation into the death of his grandson.

He has challenged the former DA and the seated DA of the 12th District and the 10th District that was referred the case to reopen it and review new information that has come to light since the death was ruled initially a suicide and then changed by the stroke of a pen by an outgoing City of Alamogordo Police Chief to accidental death with no explanation.

The family has asked local leaders to step forward and bring answers and closure around the death of Donovan. With every door the family turns the door slams and they are turned away.

Recently the Acting Alamogordo City Manager, Stephanie Hernandez and City Attorney have met with the family to hear them out and see what hand they can lend to the family.

The family admits, Donovan hung around some unsavory characters, and he was naive seeking the best in people

However, the family believes that there is a web of coverup, protecting police informants, possibly the former sheriff’s children, and Dominque De La O who was convicted of killing officer Ferguson, and is believed to have been involved and to have been a police informant. There is audio and video of discussions with individuals that were in the hotel room the evening of Donovan’s death that admit that “the situation got out of hand, and was not supposed to end as it did.” Donovan was left handed but the police ruled he committed suicide using his right hand. Residents of the hotel room below heard arguing, a scuffle and shots fired and believe a murder occurred. Soon after shots were fired, 5 individuals scattered from the hotel room, to include Dominique De La O, who was seen by a garbage collector disposing of a mysterious backpack. De La O then went and showered, and then went and spoke with the police producing a narrative that Donovan shot himself and the police quickly followed that narrative forward.

The family is convinced that if his son were white and from an upper middle class neighborhood of Alamogordo, or was the son or daughter of the mayor or the County Commission Chairwoman, the police would have taken an entirely different approach and solved the case, investigating it as a murder instead of a suicide. Under pressure for answers the former police chief changed the reason for death from suicide to accidental death. The family is convinced there was no accidental death but that Donovan was murdered and a former investigator, Chavis, with the 12th Judicial District helped cover up the alleged murder in order to protect her police informants that are speculated to include De La O.

There have been multiple murders, several initially ruled a suicide around those associated with Donovan and his case. The family believes that witnesses to Donovan’s murder or those close to the case are being eliminated via a multi-state conspiracy with a cover up with roots seated in Otero County as the center of the web.

The story is one of intrigue involving meth distribution, police informants and multiple murders in hotels, several initially ruled suicide, “which seems to be the go-to in deaths of people of color in Otero County.”

Other deaths in the web of conspiracy around the Donovan Contreras include; Thomas Bruno. Bruno was a potential police informant with ties to Donovan and Dominic De La O per sources close to the investigation. Bruno was allegedly in the hotel room where Donovan was found dead. Thomas died under similar suspicious circumstances as Donovan in a hotel room in El Paso Texas. Law enforcement at first classified it as a suicide, but then amended the finding to foul play, after an autopsy showed the level of Fentanyl in his system. The person that allegedly found him dead, Carlee Edwards was arrested in Alamogordo in December of 2020 for possession of 200 Fentanyl pills.

Another individual allegedly associated with the Donovan incident was the murder of young man named Zachery McClendon. He was also shot at a hotel, the Economy Inn on White Sands Blvd on in September of 2020. Investigators were allegedly looking at the son of the former Sheriff House, as a possible suspect in that murder but no charges have been filed to date. The McClendon family also seeks answers and is upset there was no thorough investigation and little mention of Zack’s death by the press.

There is suspicion by the Contreras family of involvement in the potential coverup of Donovan’s death with ties to the House family as well as De La o but nothing has been proven nor has the police nir 10th or 12th District Judicial Investigators been willing to reopen the case. Loose ends include updates to the case file and DNA files added by Chavis long after she left her role with the 12th Judicial District.

Individuals have told Donovan’s family that Donovan’s friend “Zack was killed because he knew to much about Donovan’s death and those involved. Similar to Donovan’s death 2 individuals walked into to police station and claimed that he had committed suicide. Zach was shot in the neck and stomach. “ His aunt Ms. Harris is convinced of a cover-up by local law enforcement. Cameron House, allegedly was also a suspect in the death of Zack, was also reported to have been present at the time of Donovan’s death per police reports along with De La O and a group of unsavory characters and alleged police informants.

Donovan’s best friend from Phoenix of which he was in constant communications with and for which the two had no secrets was also found murdered one year after Donovan’s death. On August 9th, 2020 Tony Saucedo was found dead in a canal in Tempe Arizona. At first the family was told it was a suicide but then 2 days later that was retracted and ruled a murder as he was shot in the head twice, as yet another suspicious death tied to Donovan.

An Otero County Law Judicial Officer that asked in prior meetings to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation said, he believes “the deaths are interconnected to the Donovan incident and I believe Donovan was murdered, and has been covered up due to informant information that if came to light would be bad for law enforcement.”

The family and several friends arw convinced Donovan was murdered by Dominique De Lela O and that the death of officer Fergurson was related and could have been avoided. The Contreras family is convinced that the former police chief gave him a run around, played pass the buck with the DA’s office, the DA's office played pass the buck, and that no one truly took accountability for investigating properly the incident that resulting in his grandson's death. The buck has been passed through 3 Alamogordo Police Chiefs, the 12th Judicial District, the 10th Judicial District investigators and the family was kept in the dark through most of the investigation. When the investigation was closed, the family has been persistent in wanting information released only to get a run around and to even be threatened by law enforcement to “back off.”

One thing is obvious after months of investigation. This is not a clean case, mistakes were made, no one is accepting responsibility, everyone is pointing fingers elsewhere, when we ask questions, and either the state Attorney General or the US Justice Department under Ryan Ellison needs to reopen the case and investigate, if for no other reason but to bring closure to the grandfather, mother and the family.

The city of Alamogordo leadership under Stephanie Hernandez has at least met with the family and offered a sympathetic ear. However the authority of city leadership is limited and the 12th Judicial District is who actually holds the power to potentially reopen the case for a review but continues to deny the family a second look.

We call on the 12th Judicial district to honestly meet with the family and reopen a review of the death of Donovan. If the 12th Judicial District won’t step in we call on Ryan Ellison and the federal offices of the DOJ to begin a probe into the Donovan case and the tentacles of deaths all loosely tied to this circle of individuals. It is no coincidence that these multiple deaths have occurred, there is a pattern that needs to be investigated as to the root cause of these deaths. The family of Donovan deserves closure, the McClendon family deserves answers. The public deserves answers and a sense of security and trust that informants are not running amuck and that honest and competent investigations occur with sensitive to families such as the Contreras family.

Confidence and trust in government and the police is slipping with the political climate we live in today. It’s time that the local law enforcement community open dialogue and provide real answers to the Contreras family.