An Albuquerque mother is facing criminal charges under Bennie’s after her 14-year-old son accidentally shot a friend in the shoulder. She was the fourth person charged under the law in the city in the last two years.
Forty-one-year-old Leigh Cleveland turned herself in to Albuquerque police Friday. Subsequently, she was charged under New Mexico’s Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act.
The law makes gun owners potentially criminally liable when they negligently store a firearm in a manner that gives a minor access to it and the child uses the weapon in a threatening manner or causes an injury.
Police say those circumstances came together on Aug. 22 in Cleveland’s home at 2800 block of Manzano Street NE, near San Mateo Boulevard.
According to police, several boys were inside a bathroom when one of them was handling a handgun. The boy, who was 14, had been pointing the gun and pulling the trigger while the magazine and ammunition were not in the weapon.
But after he inserted the magazine and manipulated the slide, the gun fired, hitting another 14-year-old boy in the shoulder.
Responders brought the victim to a hospital with injuries that police described as non-life-threatening. The shooter was taken into custody and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center.
Why was the mother charged?
When interviewed later by detectives, Cleveland told them the firearm belonged to her and that she kept it in an office inside the home. She also told investigators that her children knew where the guns were kept, relying that they were not supposed to touch them.
But investigators say the firearms were not locked or otherwise secured in a way that prevented children from getting to them.
A search of Cleveland’s office area turned up three handguns, including one Glock on top of a dresser and two more handguns inside a dresser drawer. Two of the firearms had loaded magazines.
Investigators also recovered additional magazines, ammunition and a cellphone from the residence.
As of June 2026, New Mexico law enforcement had used the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act in 35 cases since it took effect in 2023, according to state court data. Out of those cases, at least 16 were thrown out, often as part of plea deals.
Cleveland was the fourth person charged under the law in the city in the past two years.
The case remains an allegation, and Cleveland is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty in court.
