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The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a grandmother fatally shot by a police officer last year, according to The Associated Press and local media.

Felipe Hernandez, then working for the Las Cruces Police Department, fatally shot Teresa Gomez, 45, in her car in October 2023. Her family filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, the police chief, and three members of the police force.

The settlement is the city’s largest agreement in a civil lawsuit, according to CNN affiliate KFOX14. The parties reached a settlement on November 7, according to a court filing. CNN has reached out to the city and an attorney representing the Gomez family for comment.

“This settlement should be understood as a statement of the City’s profound feeling of loss for the death of Gomez and of the City’s condolences to her family,” the city of Las Cruces said in a news release sent Friday, according to AP.

Hernandez, who was fired from the police department months after the shooting, faces a second-degree murder charge, court records show. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin June 2. CNN has reached out to Hernandez’s attorney for comment.

Gomez was sitting in her car when Hernandez accused her and her passenger of trespassing, footage from the officer’s body-worn camera shows. He then shouted commands laced with the F-word at her and threatened to arrest her, “tase” her and make her life “a living hell” if she didn’t comply with his plan to investigate, the footage shows.

After Hernandez approached Gomez on a bicycle as she sat in her car, Gomez told him she had been visiting someone at the address and said she was looking for her misplaced keys, the body-camera footage shows. Gomez and the officer discussed why she and the passenger were parked outside a public housing complex – a place Hernandez said the passenger was not supposed to be. Gomez said multiple times she was unaware of any visitor rules, the video shows.

After Hernandez repeatedly asked Gomez to leave her car, Gomez stood outside it for a while, answering some of the officer’s questions, the video shows. Her passenger was never asked to get out or questioned in a similar way.

The grandmother eventually found her car keys and, with the officer’s permission, sat back in the driver’s seat, according to the video and the lawsuit.

Half a minute later, she engaged the engine and, with her car door still open, shifted into reverse, pulled back, then put the car into drive, the video shows.

Hernandez shouted “stop!” three times, then fired his gun several times, the video shows.

The lawsuit alleges Gomez presented “no threat of any physical injury to Hernandez or anyone else” and Hernandez “left her to bleed out in her car as he turned away from her gasping body to retrieve his bicycle and flashlight.”

The suit claims Las Cruces “has adopted a de facto policy of indifference to the escalation of encounters between its officers and the public” and it “it allows officers to use deadly force in situations in which there is no threat of great bodily harm or death posed by the subject receiving deadly force.”

The complaint also alleges city employees disproportionately use excessive force against people of color – like Gomez, who was Hispanic.

Gomez’s sister, Angela Lozano-Gutierrez, previously told CNN the video of her mother’s encounter with Hernandez was “shocking.”

“We may never get the apology we need,” Lozano-Gutierrez said. “We’re just trying to cling to each other, and we just keep telling ourselves: She would want us to continue to live to be happy.”

Associated Press

Texas Southern Tigers (0-4) at New Mexico Lobos (4-1)

Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sunday, 8 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lobos -23.5; over/under is 155.5

BOTTOM LINE: Texas Southern takes on New Mexico after Duane Posey scored 26 points in Texas Southern’s 97-82 loss to the Samford Bulldogs.

The Lobos are 3-0 on their home court. New Mexico is fourth in the MWC with 40.8 points per game in the paint led by Nelly Junior Joseph averaging 12.0.

Texas Southern finished 16-17 overall with a 6-11 record on the road a season ago. The Tigers allowed opponents to score 71.1 points per game and shot 42.5% from the field last season.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

There’s only one thing UNLV forward Jalen Hill didn’t believe his teammate Dedan Thomas Jr. could accomplish on the basketball floor, and it’s going to cost him a steak dinner.

Thomas found himself ahead of the pack late in the first half and flashed a big smile as he started to measure his dribbles and steps toward the rim.

“I got the ball and thought I saw someone chasing me to block it, so I was like, ‘Yeah, I have to go dunk this,’” Thomas said.

The first slam of his collegiate career highlighted the Rebels’ 72-65 win over New Mexico State on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

A preseason discussion between Hill and Thomas resulted in the promise of the meal should Thomas throw one down in a game this season. Hill may not be the only one on the hook.

“He never shows that he can dunk at practice,” Hill laughed. “It’s exciting, because for a guy that doesn’t really dunk to get his first one, a lot of people owe him stuff.”

While the above-the-rim moment was a departure from the norm, it was business as usual otherwise for the sophomore point guard, who was once again the catalyst for much of what UNLV (4-1) was able to accomplish in a game in which it struggled from the field for long stretches.

He finished with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Rebels held off the Aggies (3-2) in a physical affair that featured 50 fouls and a combined 33.3 percent shooting effort from the field.

Thomas got to the free-throw line 19 times and made 13 of the attempts.

“We knew they were a physical team, so I tried to use that aggression against them,” he said. “Just drawing fouls and trying to get to the line as much as possible.”

UNLV led by as many as nine points midway through the second half only to allow the Aggies to hang around. Julian Rishwain hit a pair of 3-pointers to help keep them at bay for a while, but they eventually grabbed a brief lead that proved to be short-lived.

New Mexico State used a late 6-0 run to take a 63-62 lead with 4:08 remaining, but UNLV got the ball inside to Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry for a dunk to recapture the lead for good.

Thomas got to the rim and was fouled in a one-point game with 2:22 remaining and made both free throws. The Aggies wouldn’t score again, as UNLV tightened up defensively down the stretch, forcing New Mexico State to miss its final six shots and eight of their last nine.

UNLV led 37-34 at halftime despite a miserable shooting performance from the field.

After a three-point play by Thomas in the opening minute, the Rebels missed their next eight shots and 13 of their next 15 as they went more than seven minutes without a basket from the floor.

They were able to stay in the game largely because of their defense and ability to get to the free-throw line. UNLV held the Aggies to 31.3 percent shooting in the first half and got into the bonus with more than 14 minutes remaining, going 20-for-23 from the line before the break.

“It just shows we’re really gutsy,” Hill said. “We didn’t shoot well, but we got to the free-throw line and got rebounds when we needed them.”

Eight New Mexico State players had two fouls in the first 20 minutes.

The Rebels did get hot toward the end of a first half that saw Thomas record 15 points and three assists while UNLV shot just 29.2 percent from the field.

None were more memorable than the ones scored by Thomas on the breakaway with 3:06 remaining in the first half.

Coach Kevin Kruger had more faith than Hill.

“I didn’t know if he was going to dunk or not, but I do know he can,” Kruger laughed. “I have seen it before.”

After the Thomas dunk brought the entire bench to its feet in celebration, he threw a lob to Cherry on a break that he finished with a highlight-reel jam and a foul. The three-point play completed a 7-0 run that put the Rebels up 37-30.

“A dunk isn’t always worth only two points,” Kruger said. “Sometimes it gets your team going, and I thought it did for us.”

Cherry finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, and Hill had 16 points and nine boards.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.