New Mexico

New Mexico jury convicts ex-officer in fatal shooting of Black man at gas station

Published

1 year ago

February 12, 2025

New Mexico jury convicts ex-officer in fatal shooting of Black man at gas station

SANTA FE, N.M. — A former police officer was found guilty Wednesday of voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black man during a 2022 confrontation at a New Mexico gas station.

Las Cruces police Officer Brad Lunsford’s verdict in a jury trial is the latest outcome in cases that prosecutors have linked to systematic brutality against Black people by members of law enforcement, nearly five years after the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Lunsford, who is white, had pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Jose Coronado, said he will ask the judge to review the verdict for its legal sufficiency.

“While I respect the jury’s verdict, I am extremely disappointed in it. I don’t believe the state met its burden,” he said in an email to The Associated Press.

Prosecutors said he shot Presley Eze at point-blank range in a scuffle after police responded to a 911 call from a gas station attendant who reported that Eze stole beer. Eze allegedly placed his hand on a second officer’s stun gun before being shot.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the use of deadly force was not reasonable, noting that Lunsford immediately drew his service weapon and shot Eze in the back of the head.

“Today’s verdict reaffirms a fundamental principle: no one is above the law — not even those sworn to uphold it. Officer Lunsford’s actions were not just a tragic lapse in judgment; they were an egregious abuse of power that cost Presley Eze his life,” Torrez said in a statement after the verdict was announced.

The charge of voluntary manslaughter with a firearms enhancement carries a possible sentence of up to nine years in prison. Evidence at trial included police body camera video of the confrontation, in which police pulled Eze from a vehicle and the struggle ensued.

Philip Stinson, a professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said most fatal shootings by on-duty officers are determined to be legally justified under precedent stemming from two 1980s-era U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

“It is incredibly difficult for a prosecutor to obtain a conviction in a jury trial in one of these cases, and that’s because jurors are very reluctant to second guess the split-second, often life-or-death decisions of an on-duty police officer in a potentially violent street encounter,” Stinson said. “Anything can happen, but it’s only in the most egregious cases.”

Records compiled by Stinson, university colleagues and students through the Police Integrity Research Group show that 205 nonfederal law enforcement officers have been arrested on criminal charges of homicide or manslaughter over the past 20 years, resulting in 66 convictions, 27 of them for manslaughter or homicide.

“If you do get a conviction, it’s often for the lesser offense,” Stinson said.

More than 900 fatal shootings by on-duty state and local law enforcement officers typically take place each year in the U.S., he said

In pursuing a criminal charge against Lunsford, Torrez described the killing of Eze as a tragedy and “yet another example of poor police tactics resulting in an unjustifiable use of force to subdue an individual resisting arrest for the commission of a minor crime.”

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New Mexico

Federal court orders New Mexico prison officials to allow magazine’s delivery

Published

2 hours ago

March 11, 2026

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Federal court orders New Mexico prison officials to allow magazine’s delivery

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New Mexico

Tanya Tucker to perform at New Mexico State Fair

Published

15 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Tanya Tucker to perform at New Mexico State Fair

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Tanya Tucker will perform at the 2026 New Mexico State Fair, officials announced Tuesday.

Tucker will take to the stage Friday, Sept. 18, after the Chevron PRCA rodeo. The Grammy Award-winning icon has racked up 10 No. 1 country hits since her first hit, “Delta Dawn,” at age 13.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring the legendary Tanya Tucker to the New Mexico State Fair,” said Dan Mourning, general manager of the New Mexico State Fair. “Tanya is one of the greatest icons in country music history and is the perfect fit for the Fair.”

Tucker has 23 Top-40 albums and 56 Top 40 singles on the Billboard country music charts. She has won two Country Music Association awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, three CMT Awards and two Grammys for Best Country Album and Best Country Song.

Tickets are set to go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m.

Here is the full 2026 New Mexico State Fair rodeo-concert lineup:

Friday, Sept. 11

Turnpike Troubadours with Chevron PRCA Xtreme Bulls

Saturday, Sept. 12

Ian Munsick with Chevron PRCA Xtreme Bulls

Wednesday, Sept. 16

Chevron PRCA Standalone Rodeo

Thursday, Sept. 17

Everclear with Chevron PRCA Rodeo

Friday, Sept. 18

Tanya Tucker with Chevron PRCA Rodeo

Saturday, Sept. 19

The Warning with Chevron PRCA Rodeo

Sunday, Sept. 20

Chevron PRCA Rodeo – Matinee

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New Mexico

New Mexico prosecutors launch search of Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded former Zorro Ranch

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico prosecutors launch search of Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded former Zorro Ranch

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State investigators began searching a secluded ranch in New Mexico on Monday where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women.

The office of state Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that the search was being done with the cooperation of the current ranch owners.

Torrez last month reopened an investigation of the ranch. New Mexico’s initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, and state prosecutors say now that “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination.”

Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Santa Fe, in 1993 from former Democratic Gov. Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion with a private runway.

The property was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 — with proceeds going toward creditors — to the family of Don Huffines, a candidate in Texas for state comptroller who won the Republican primary last week.

“The New Mexico Department of Justice appreciates the cooperation of the current property owners,” the agency said in a statement. Prosecutors “will continue to keep the public appropriately informed, support the survivors, and follow the facts wherever they lead.”

Additionally, New Mexico state legislators have established a new commission to look into past activities at the ranch.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.

Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, but the state attorney general’s office in 2019 confirmed that it had interviewed possible victims who visited Epstein’s ranch.

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