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Shooting suspect to hire private attorney

PORTALES — Dylan McKay’s family drove in this weekend from Oklahoma, Indiana and Texas and filled out the group of roughly two dozen crowded into a court room for the first appearance this week of his accused killer.

Angel Loya, 22, said during his arraignment Monday afternoon that he intended to hire a private attorney. Until then the court will appoint a public defender, and he is next due in the county’s district court Wednesday morning for a pre-trial detention motion from the state.

Loya was arrested Friday on an open count of murder, following McKay’s shooting death the night before. He has remained in jail without bond since then.

Bo Gabriel said he came in from Yukon, Oklahoma, for his brother McKay, 24, whose services are scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Portales.

Bradi Carthel, the mother of McKay’s daughter, said she heard the news early Friday and hasn’t slept much since then. She knew McKay since high school in Portales, she said, and has stayed close with him after separating a couple years ago.

“It was really emotional,” she said of seeing Loya by video monitor at the hearing in Roosevelt County Magistrate Court. “I think it’s all a very bad situation. I just hope that the right thing happens and that he gets what he deserves, but at the same time I just feel like, prayers for everybody involved.”

Loya told police he “had issues” with McKay recently dating Kristen Ashmore, the mother of Loya’s young daughter, and that the shooting “just happened,” according to court records.

Ashmore told The News this weekend her daughter is not yet comprehending her father’s arrest.

As for McKay’s daughter, who lives with Carthel in Melrose, her mother said she was doing “the best a 7-year-old can do in this type of situation.”

Loya is also scheduled for a preliminary examination next week in court.