A New Mexico city has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a woman who was shot and killed by a police officer who is now charged with manslaughter.
Teresa Gomez, 45, was fatally shot in October 2023, shortly after a Las Cruces police officer on a bicycle approached her as she sat with another person in a parked car, authorities said. Body camera footage shows the officer shot Gomez three times as she tried to drive away.
The officer, identified by the city as Felipe Hernandez, was charged in January and fired months later by the Las Cruces Police Department.
“This settlement should be understood as a statement of the City’s deep sense of loss over Gomez’s death and of the City’s condolences to her family,” the city of Las Cruces said in a news release sent Friday.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. His trial is scheduled for June 2. The Associated Press sent an email Saturday seeking comment from Hernandez’s attorney.
An attorney for the Gomez family said her relatives are grateful to the city “for recognizing the injustice of Teresa’s death,” Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
“They trust that the city will redouble its efforts to ensure that no other family has to endure the tragedy of losing a loved one to police abuse,” Shannon Kennedy said in a statement to the newspaper.
