A New Mexico jury has found a former police officer guilty of voluntary manslaughter for shooting and killing a Black man at a gas station in 2022.
According to The Associated Press, the jury found former Las Cruces police officer Brad Lunsford guilty of killing Presley Eze during an altercation. The possible prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter with a firearms enhancement is up to nine years in prison.
After the verdict, Attorney General Raúl Torrez said, “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.”
Prosecutors stated that Lunsford shot Eze at point-blank range when he responded to a 911 call from a gas station attendant who told the operator that Eze stole beer. Torrez said the use of deadly force was not reasonable as the former police officer immediately drew his service weapon and shot Eze in the back of the head.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed police body camera footage of the incident. It showed police officers pulling Eze from a vehicle before the struggle led to his death.
Lunford’s attorney, Jose Coronado, said he would 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,” Coronado wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
In pursuing the criminal charge against Lunsford, Torrez stated that the police shooting of Eze was 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.”RELATED CONTENT: Probable Cause Found to Charge Black Wisconsin Cop in 2016 Killing of Black Man