Las Cruces $20 Million Officer Involved Shooting Settlement May Impact the Elijah Hadley Case

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In the state of New Mexico prosecutions are rare for officer involved shootings.  In America overall officer involved shootings are not easily prosecuted. For years, New Mexico has been one of the states with the highest per capita rate of police shooting people.

In 2024, the state has been the single deadliest place in the country for fatal police shootings, according to the Mapping Police Violence database, with 12.75 people per million killed by police

A variety of factors unique to New Mexico influence the high rate of police shootings. For example New Mexico and its rural communities make it a big gun advocating state which may up the risk and tone during police encounters. The state ranks in the upper half of gun ownership in the U.S.

Locally this amplified hostility towards a person holding a weapon was evident in the Elijah Hadley case. This case has led to public outrage and citizens begging for answers. In that case still under investigation and in the hands of Sam Bregman, the District Attorney for the Second Judicial District. The case was assigned to him so there is no perception of a local conflict of interest...

In the local case of Elijah Hadley articles have been published in the Albuquerque Journal releasing a video of the events that occurred that fateful evening and yet still no answers from legal authorities. The video link shows a shocking result and is damning on the Otero County Sheriff's Deputy and yet no official explanation on the events of that evening.

New Mexico In Depth, in an article written by Bella Davis, names the deputy involved as the first media outlet to release the deputy's name in a September article titled Community members want deputy who killed Mescalero Apache teenager charged. Bella covers the protest in the article explaining that "drivers sped past, some honking to show support for the dozens of people walking along U.S. Highway 70 to honor Elijah Hadley. People helped older relatives make their way, and mothers pushed their children in strollers.

Grief and outrage over Hadley’s death hung over the crowd as they traveled about a mile from a nearby church to the spot on the highway median where Hadley was killed.

To recap the incident that continues to add to citizen and family outrage let's review the situation of that fateful moment...

On June 25 Otero County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Diaz-Austin was dispatched to conduct a welfare check on him. Dashboard camera footage shows Diaz-Austin ordered Hadley to show his hands, then shot Hadley just as he was dropping what turned out to be an airsoft pistol — a replica gun that’s designed to shoot non-metal rounds.

“It’s just a BB gun,” Hadley screamed, falling to the ground.

For three minutes after the initial barrage of bullets, body camera footage shows, Hadley lay on the ground, covered in his own blood, as Diaz-Austin kept his distance. At one point, Hadley said to Diaz-Austin, “You’re going to kill me” and “I’m going to fucking die,” the deputy told a state police agent during a July 1 interview.

When Hadley rolled onto his stomach, Diaz-Austin shot him at least a dozen more times.

Hadley died at the scene.

Reporting by a variety of news outlets in Texas and New Mexico to include our own for this ongoing story has included reviews of the deputy’s dashboard and body camera footageobtained through a public records request and the 101-page investigative report filed by the New Mexico State Police following the shooting

The conclusion by every media outlet is that the public deserves answers. 

Though the investigation process is slow in New Mexico and prosecutions and settlements are rare a case that was just settled in Las Cruces made national headlines and may be having an effect on the pace of the Elijah Hadley investigation.

This week, the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, agreed to the terms of a proposed $20m settlement to the family of Teresa Gomez, an unarmed 45-year-old killed in a 2023 police shooting.

Gomez was sitting in a car outside a public housing complex in the early hours of October 3, 2023, when Felipe Hernandez, an officer on a bike patrol, told her she wasn’t supposed to be outside the complex at that hour and questioned her. The policeman berated the woman, threatening to make her life a “living hell,” according to a lawsuit. As she backed slowly out of her parking space, the office fired three shots, one of which struck Gomez’s lung, killing her.

The proposed settlement, which the city called a  reflection of its “profound feeling of loss for the death of Gomez,” is notable for a few reasons. It’s reportedly the largest settlement Las Cruces has ever paid, and it comes as Hernandez, who was relieved of duty in May of this year, faces a second-degree murder trial in 2025 over the incident.

In the local case of Elijah Hadley the officer who shot the young Mescalero Apache youth is still on the job and the result has been public protests and cries for "Justice for Elijah.

In addition to the public pressure for answers, a case has been filed in the New Mexico state courts in Santa Fe "alleging wrongful death" against Otero County and the Otero County Sheriff's Department adding pressure to the case and investigations. 

This case filing is separate from the investigative review happening in the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office. As such one should not impact the other however it does complicate the process and what can be released to the public via public records requests. 

Nancy Laflin, a spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office, had confirmed they "are in the process of reviewing the case"

"We are committed to delivering an accurate account of the events and it is our priority to ensure a comprehensive and unbiased investigation," DPS Secretary Jason Bowie has also said in a statement. "Open communication with tribal leadership and the family members are essential for building and maintaining strong, trust-based relationships between the police and communities they serve."

AlamogordoTownNews.org has an ongoing information request filed with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office and has been promised an update by December 3rd, 2024. 

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