FARMINGTON, NM — Farmington has agreed to pay $6 million to settle claims tied to the fatal shooting of homeowner Robert Dotson, whose house police mistakenly approached while responding to a possible domestic violence call in April 2023.
The settlement ends a civil case that grew out of a mistake the city and the officers did not dispute: the call was for 5308 Valley View Avenue, but the officers went to 5305. Within minutes of their arrival, Dotson, 52, was dead, and his wife had exchanged gunfire with the officers before realizing they were police.
How three officers ended up at 5305 instead of 5308
According to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, Farmington police received the domestic violence call around 11:30 p.m. on April 5, 2023. Officers Daniel Estrada, Dylan Goodluck and Waylon Wasson were sent to 5308 Valley View Avenue.
Instead, they walked up to 5305. A later federal court ruling said Wasson’s vehicle computer placed the address on the south side of the street, while Goodluck checked Google Maps and saw 5308 on the north side. Goodluck even said “third house on the left,” but Wasson headed down the right side of the street.
The Dotsons’ home had its number marked and lit by a floodlight. Even so, the officers knocked and announced themselves as police at the wrong door.
The shooting unfolded in seconds after Dotson opened the door
Wasson knocked repeatedly and identified the officers as Farmington police. After getting no answer, the officers asked dispatch to contact the person who had made the original call.
When Goodluck raised the concern that they might be at the wrong house, dispatch confirmed the address as 5308 Valley View Avenue. Moments later, the officers heard someone coming toward the door from inside the Dotson home.
Dotson opened the screen door holding a handgun. The federal court found that he put both hands on the weapon and raised it toward Wasson and Estrada. The officers fired almost immediately. The court said only about two seconds passed between the door opening and the gunfire, and Dotson was shot 12 times.
Kimberly Dotson fired after seeing her husband on the floor
The encounter did not end when Dotson fell back inside. His wife, Kimberly Dotson, came downstairs, saw her husband in the entryway and began screaming, according to the court record.
Wasson ordered her to put up her hands. She opened the screen door and fired her gun generally toward the officers. Wasson and Estrada returned fire, while Goodluck did not. Kimberly Dotson was not hit, and none of the officers were injured.
Other Farmington officers eventually arrived and persuaded her to put down her weapon and come out of the house. The shooting added another layer to a case that already centered on the wrong address and a deadly split-second decision.
State prosecutors declined charges after reviewing both shootings
The New Mexico Department of Justice reviewed the shootings for possible criminal prosecution and in January 2024 concluded that charges against the officers could not be sustained. The review relied in part on a report by University of South Carolina law professor and former police officer Seth Stoughton.
Stoughton concluded that Dotson posed an imminent threat when he raised the gun toward the officers and that Kimberly Dotson created a second imminent threat when she later fired outside. The department closed the criminal review, but it also made clear that its decision addressed criminal liability only.
It did not resolve possible civil liability or discipline, leaving the family’s lawsuit to test a different legal standard in court.
A federal judge rejected the Fourth Amendment claim in 2025
Dotson’s estate and family sued Farmington and the three officers, arguing that the fatal shooting amounted to an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment. U.S. District Judge Matthew Garcia granted qualified immunity on that claim in May 2025.
Garcia said the officers had negligently gone to the wrong property without confirming the address, but he concluded that negligence was not enough to establish a Fourth Amendment violation. He also found that once Dotson raised the gun toward the officers at close range, the use of deadly force was objectively reasonable.
The judge dismissed the federal claim with prejudice. Other claims under New Mexico law remained in the case, including claims under the state Civil Rights Act and Tort Claims Act.
The family’s state-court case ended with a cash settlement
The family filed a state-court lawsuit in July 2025 naming Farmington, Estrada, Goodluck and Wasson. That case did not go to trial. Instead, the parties reached a settlement that released the city and officers from further claims in exchange for the $6 million payment.
Settlement documents obtained by the Tri-City Record say the agreement did not include an admission of liability. Farmington City Attorney Jennifer Breakell said the claim had been settled and that Travelers Insurance, not the city treasury, provided the payment.
The result leaves two separate official conclusions in place: prosecutors did not pursue criminal charges, and a federal judge rejected the family’s constitutional claim. The civil dispute, however, ended with a substantial payment to the Dotson family.
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