A New Mexico police officer who shot a grandmother three times during interrogation as she tried to drive away has been charged with murder.
Felipe Hernandez, an eight-year veteran of the Las Cruces Police Department, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday morning for the Oct. 3 shooting.
Teresa Gomez, 45, was stopped by Hernandez around 5 a.m. after parking her car at a public housing complex with her boyfriend Jesus Garcia, 38, who recognized Hernandez from other encounters.
The officer began accusing Garcia of trespassing and violating a judge’s order while talking to Gomez about the situation. The grandmother tried to drive away as Hernandez yelled at her to stop, just before he shot and killed her.
“From the very beginning of Mr. Hernandez’s interaction with Ms. Gomez, the ability to manage the protocol is non-existent. His interactions with her were, on just a human level, exceptionally substandard and certainly did not meet the standards the LCPD demands of its officers,” Doña Ana County District Attorney Gerald Byers said at a news conference.
Felipe Hernandez, an eight-year veteran of the Las Cruces Police Department, turned himself in Tuesday morning for shooting and killing Teresa Gomez, 45, on Oct. 3
Gomez was stopped by Officer Hernandez after he recognized the passenger in her car as Julio Garcia, whom he accused of entering the housing complex where they were parked.
Nine-minute bodycam footage begins as Hernandez pulls Gomez towards him and asks her to roll down her window and open the door, telling him she was trying to find her keys.
The passenger, Garcia, then pulls a paintball gun from his waist as Hernandez asks the driver to get out of the car.
“I don’t have to get out,” Gomez says.
“Get out now or I’ll pull you out,” Hernandez replies.
Gomez then tells the officer she “wants to see his sergeant” and continues to refuse to get out of her vehicle.
The officer then begins using aggressive language and swear words and threatens to ‘tase’ her until Gomez is eventually released.
Gomez gets on the side of the car as Hernandez shines his flashlight back at Garcia as he moves the paintball gun into the car.
“I don’t do anything,” Garcia says.
Gomez explained that she was looking for her lost car keys and that she was looking for her friend ‘Butterfly’.
The officer began to question their presence outside the public housing complex, claiming that her passenger should not be there. Gomez remained relatively calm during the conversation and went on to explain that she was not aware of any specific violations.
Hernandez then asks her why she was in the housing complex at that time and aggressively tells her, “I will really make your life hell” and threatens to tow her car.
The grandmother then tells him that she was visiting guests before the agent informs her that visitors are only allowed in the complex at certain times.
Garcia is seen in the car as Hernandez shines the light on him. The officer said the passenger knew he was not allowed in the area, violating the judge’s orders
Gomez was more than compliant with the officer, saying she didn’t know her friend wasn’t supposed to be there
After finally finding her car keys, Gomez listened to the officer, repeatedly shook her head and said “sorry.”
She then asks the officer if she can get back into her vehicle as the officer gives her permission to enter the vehicle.
Loving grandmother from New Mexico was shot dead by Hernandez when he fired shots at her as she tried to run away in her car
Moments later, with her car door still open, she looks straight at the officer, starts the engine and reverses out of her parking spot while Hernandez is busy writing in his notebook.
Hernandez responds by yelling at her to stop several times before opening fire three times, hitting Gomez.
Gomez began bleeding from her neck and had trouble breathing before she was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.
Garcia was not injured but was arrested on misdemeanor and misdemeanor charges.
A wrongful death lawsuit has now been filed by her family alleging excessive force violated her civil rights.
Gomez’s family is struggling to understand how she was killed during a relatively simple encounter.
“If you saw the video, the beginning – with how the officer talked to my mother – … for any son, daughter, mother, father, it’s hard to see someone, a grown man, talking to your mother like that – and that wasn’t even the worst of it,” said her son, Johny Gomez CNN.
Officer Felipe Hernandez faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. The eight-year veteran of the force has been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed
Gomez (center) is seen with son Johny Gomez (in white) and other family members. Her family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging excessive force violated her civil rights
Doña Ana County District Attorney Gerald Byers (speaking) said Hernandez’s “interactions” with Gomez were “exceptionally substandard and certainly did not meet the standards LCPD demands of its officers.”
“We didn’t understand at what point it went wrong because it didn’t seem like it could go wrong,” added Teresa Gomez’s sister, Angela Lozano-Gutierrez.
“From everything that happened, it seemed like it was kind of a point where they were just going to let her go. And so it was just shocking that it ended with her death.”
The Las Cruces Police Department has since revealed that Officer Hernandez was previously involved in several use-of-force incidents.
Hernandez has since been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed. If convicted of the murder, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
The family’s lawyer, Sharron Kennedy, said: “The Las Cruces Police Department’s lack of internal oversight and supervision has allowed a culture of aggression to emerge, which promotes the acceptance of unlawful use of deadly force that contributed to the preventable death of Teresa Gomez.”