EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Robert Yacone, co-owner of Forghdaboutit Southwest Italian restaurant in Las Cruces, is charged with first-degree murder of his wife Kimberly Yacone during a domestic dispute that also resulted in an officer-involved shooting.
Dona Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart said deputies responded to the Yacone home off Vista del Oro just before 8 p.m. on Sunday night. The call came from Robert’s 21-year-old son who alerted the deputies that Kimberly had been shot and that there was a shotgun in the house, Stewart said.
In the affidavit obtained by KTSM, it said that Yacone called his daughter who lives in Buffalo, New York, and told her he had shot Kimberly. The daughter then allegedly alerted the 21-year-old son who drove to Yacone’s house and found Kimberly shot, laying face-down in the bedroom.
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According to the affidavit, both the daughter and son said they believe their father had been drinking. Kimberly’s biological 17-year-old son, who has learning disabilities and also lives at the same residence, was reportedly present at the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Once the deputies arrived, they located Kimberly Yacone in the master bedroom with what they called close contact gunshot wounds to her face and her back. She was dead when deputies arrived.
Stewart explained the deputies found Robert Yacone on the balcony that was connected to the master bedroom holding a handgun. According to the affidavit, Yacone was not in plain sight of the deputies and was behind a wall with a handgun the entire time.
The deputies ordered Robert Yacone to show himself because they believed he was posing a threat to their safety, according to the affidavit. Yacone then rushed towards the deputies who then shot him, as stated in the affidavit. He was then taken to the hospital with injuries and is currently in stable condition. No deputies were injured, according to Stewart. The sheriff was not able to confirm how many shots were fired, but she says deputies fired first.
There are currently three investigations being conducted by DASO: an administrative investigation, one conducted by the officer-involved shooting task force, and a criminal investigation. Deputies found a shotgun in the kitchen and another handgun in the closet of the master bedroom, according to the affidavit that stated both of Kimberly Yacone’s wounds came from the same weapon and that the back-blast residue on the shotgun indicated it had been fired in close contact. Robert Yacone is charged with First Degree Murder and Felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents obtained by KTSM, Robert Yacone had two previous felonies on his record. Yacon was convicted of child abuse in 2014 and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2018. According to Stewart, deputies have responded to about 15 calls to the Yacone residence since January. Two of those calls were regarding a domestic disturbance.
In February of 2022, Kimberly Yacone filed a petition for dissolution of marriage, according to documents obtained by KTSM. The petition stated the Yacones were married in March of 2018 and living separately since January of 2022. Kimberly Yacone had also filed a temporary restraining order on the same day the petition was filed.
