The family of a woman shot dead by a former New Mexico police officer has reached a $20 million settlement with the city that employed him, ahead of his murder trial next year.

Las Cruces police officer Felipe Hernandez killed Teresa Gomez, 45, last year and the city said in a statement Monday that his actions “on the morning of Oct. 3, 2023, were so severe that charges were brought against Hernandez.”

In January, Hernandez was charged with second-degree murder and later fired from the police department. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled for June 2, 2025.

The shooting, which was captured on body camera footage, happened after Hernandez questioned Gomez and a passenger about trespassing after he saw the two of them sitting in a parked vehicle in an area that he described as “public housing.” Hernandez approached the vehicle on a bicycle, proceeding to tell Gomez to step out of her vehicle.

At one point he tells her: “You’re going to get tazed.” A minutes-long interaction takes place between the three and Gomez eventually leaves the vehicle to speak with the officer.

Hernandez recognized the passenger in the vehicle as a person who was allegedly the subject of multiple warrants for trespassing. Hernandez then tells Gomez to step outside of the vehicle, tell her there are rules that need to be followed.

“I will really, really make your life a living hell,” he said, according to the video.

After returning to the vehicle, Gomez then attempts to flee the scene and Hernandez fires at least three shots into the vehicle. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

In its statement Monday, the city of Las Cruces said that the settlement should not indicate “criminal guilt” on the part of Hernandez and noted that it will respect the criminal justice process.

“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,” it added.

Shannon Kennedy, attorney for Gomez’ family, said in a statement to the Las Cruces Sun-News that Gomez’s parents, children and siblings are still mourning her loss.

“They are grateful to the City of Las Cruces for recognizing the injustice of Teresa’s death,” Kennedy said. “They trust that the city will redouble efforts to make sure no other family suffers the tragedy of losing a loved one to abusive police conduct.”

NBC News has contacted an attorney for Hernandez for comment overnight and had not received a response at the time of publication.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – As sure as there will be turkey on the table, Thanksgiving week will be the busiest time to travel. 

“Pack your patience,” said Leah Black, Albuquerque International Sunport’s Outreach & Marketing manager.

Because as you’re traveling, so are millions of others.

“We’re a little spoiled, because our airport is pretty small, and it’s usually pretty efficient to get through,” said Black.

Black says predictions are in the thousands for our midsize airport.

“On Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, 20,000 people coming and going through the Sunport, which is crazy. And then the second-busiest day is going to be the Sunday after Thanksgiving, at about 19,000 people,” Black said. 

She’s telling passengers to arrive at the Sunport three hours early. Black says that should be enough time to navigate any issues with traffic, ticket counter lines, and parking, which ran out of room quickly this time last year. 

“It’s going to fill up, it’s just a matter of when it will fill up. So I would say, watch our socials. But also, again, come three hours early because you might need to park in one of our third party off-site lots,” said Black. 

Those lots are right next to the Sunport and offer a shuttle ride to your terminal. Another place you might be waiting a bit? The TSA security lines. But Black says new tech at the Sunport is helping move things along.

“They’re getting more people through per hour now than they have in the past,” Black said. “When you see an open bin, go up to it, you don’t need to wait behind the person in front of you anymore. People are always worried that they’re cutting the line.”

Things will certainly get more hectic as the week goes on, but some passengers planned for it. 

“We’ve traveled before for Thanksgiving and decided to try and get ahead of it. So we’re doing Monday to Friday,” said Jennifer Clark, a visitor from New York. 

Clark is visiting family in Santa Fe and says it was a good decision to fly Monday. 

“We’re on time, and we had a connection. It’s been real easy,” said Clark. “One year we got caught in some weather, so we’ve decided this is a little easier.”

For locals Gail and Alan Hawkins, flying in Monday wasn’t a headache either.

“It was pretty busy, but it was very smooth. We didn’t have any problems,” said Gail.

Even if you are caught up in a hectic travel day, the Hawkins want to remind everyone to instead focus on the meaning of the holiday.

“Redeem the time. It’s precious. Be together and pay attention to one another,” said Alan.

As for hitting the roads, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Transportation says construction on I-25 in the metro will continue.

Those lane closures won’t be lifted, but crews won’t be working Thanksgiving Day through Sunday.

Playoff season has reached the point in New Mexico high school football where state championship will be crowned this week.

The postseason finishes up this week as classes 2A-6A have their championship games on Saturday, Nov. 30,

>>New Mexico high school football playoff brackets

Stick with High School on SI for all of the matchups, game times and scores throughout the 2024 New Mexico (NMAA) high school football playoffs.

New Mexico high school football playoffs 2024 brackets

Here are the New Mexico high school football playoff brackets, with matchups and game times from all classifications in the championship games:

Championship matchup

(1) La Cueva vs. (3) Cleveland

1 p.m. Saturday

2024 New Mexico Class 6A bracket

Championship matchup

(1) Roswell vs. (2) Artesia

1 p.m. Saturday

2024 New Mexico Class 5A bracket

Championship matchup

(2) St. Pius X vs. (1) Bloomfield

1 p.m. Saturday

2024 New Mexico Class 4A bracket

Championship matchup

(1) St. Michael’s vs. (2) Dexter

1 p.m. Saturday

2024 New Mexico Class 3A bracket

Championship matchup

(2) Santa Rosa vs. (1) Texico

1 p.m. Saturday

2024 New Mexico Class 2A bracket

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— Ben Dagg @sblivesports