(CN) - The wife of a man killed in a New Mexico movie theater in 2023 sued both the shooter and the theater Monday, blaming the latter for failing to prevent the altercation that resulted in her husband's death. 

Trina Tenorio says Cinemark Theatres failed to enforce the company's anti-firearm policy or provide armed security to settle patron disputes, enabling then-21-year-old Enrique Padilla to shoot and kill her husband, Michael Tenorio, over an argument regarding assigned seats.

The plaintiff also accuses Padilla, who was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison, of battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

Despite two "no firearms allowed" signs posted on both the north and south box office windows, Trina Tenorio says Padilla was allowed to carry a handgun into a Cinemark Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico, without resistance from security. Later, during a 9 p.m. movie screening on June 23, 2023, the Tenorios asked Padilla and his girlfriend to move down a seat. Padilla refused and an argument ensued, prompting a theater manager to try and de-escalate the situation. 

"Prior to June 23, 2025, Cinemark felt that armed, uniformed security guards were necessary to protect its clientele in Albuquerque, NM," the plaintiff says, adding that the theater had recently abandoned its policy of bringing armed security guards into theaters to manage such disputes, despite managers having ample notice of criminal activity at the location. 

It's unclear how the policy has changed. 

After the manager told the couples to sit in separate seats and left the theater, Trina Tenorio says Padilla poured popcorn on her and her husband, prompting her husband to stand up and push the defendant into a wall. It was then, according to local reporting, that Padilla pulled out his weapon and shot Michael Tenorio three times. The plaintiff says he also pointed the gun at her head to threaten her before running away. 

Police body cam footage outside the theater shows Padilla sitting on a curb in the parking lot, telling police officers he'd been shot, though no wounds or blood marks are visible in the video. It wasn't until Padilla was taken to the hospital that witnesses identified him as the shooter. 

In her wrongful death suit, Trina Tenorio says Padilla's bag should have been checked for weapons at the box office, and, given the history of guest conflicts at this theater, should have been dealt with by armed security guards once he initiated the argument. 

"No security personnel were present in the theater when a patron dispute broke out on the night of the shooting, and there were no bag checks or screenings to prevent the introduction of deadly weapons, despite clearly posted signage prohibiting firearms," the plaintiff says in the complaint."

She adds that the defendants should have been aware of rising gun-violence trends across New Mexico, and therefore should have been especially careful to protect their patrons in this case. 

At Cinemark, she lobs two charges: premises liability for failing to enforce its own firearm policy and failing to enact other security policies, and negligent hiring, training and supervision for failing to prepare employees for escalating patron disputes. 

Trina Tenorio also accuses Padilla, currently imprisoned, of assault and battery for dumping popcorn on her, aiming a firearm at her and shooting her husband with that firearm. She adds two counts of infliction of emotional distress, calling Padilla's actions "malicious, willful and reckless."

Cinemark Theatres has not replied to a request for comment. 

Source: Courthouse News Service