FARMINGTON, N.M. (KRQE) – More is being revealed about the three women who were murdered in a Farmington gunman’s random shooting on Monday. People who knew them said they were pillars in their community and churches.
Those people explained the untimely deaths of Melody Ivie, Gwendolyn Schofield, and Shirley Voita are being felt by many, including State Representative Mark Duncan (R- San Juan), who is related to two of them. “Aunt Melody and Grandma Gwen were just exceptional women,” he said. “I know the son and some of the family members of the other lady as well, Mrs. Voita, and they are exceptional citizens, so I assume that she is exactly like that as well.”
Rep. Duncan represents half of Farmington and surrounding areas in the Roundhouse. He claimed his own daughters, and even some of his grandchildren, went to Melody Ivie’s pre-school, which she ran for 40 years, according to the community.
Duncan elaborated and said she impacted hundreds and hundreds of lives in the community. At their home in Farmington, letters posted in a makeshift memorial attest to that. He said both, she and Gwendolyn, were very kind and forgiving people. “She’d probably be the first one to put her arms around that young man,” said Duncan.
“I tell my kids ‘I love you’ almost every time I talk to them, and this is a great reminder,” Duncan continued. “Just kiss your loved ones goodbye because you never know what’s going to happen that day.”
At the news briefing Tuesday, a common concern that came up was how the shooter got ahold of the guns he used to commit this crime. Authorities say one was legally obtained, and the others seemingly came from family members.
A man who lives two houses away from the shooter, Beau Wilson, was home when it happened and described what he heard.
Jeffrey Clark was in his garage just before the incident happened. He said he saw Wilson shooting off rounds, and after he moved away from Clark’s home, he saw the carnage.
“[I] saw my neighbor in the front yard, very intent in shooting his rifle at things and people,” Clark said. “Discovered two elderly people in their vehicle, dead.”
Clark said he went back into his home for his own safety.
Rep. Duncan stated, as a representative of the Farmington area, he will be pushing to allocate more funding to mental health resources for people who are in tragedies like this. The City of Farmington will hold a vigil for the victims in the Farmington Museum at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday night.
