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In the largest settlement for a police officer killing in state history, the city of Las Cruces announced Friday it was in the final stages of settling a lawsuit by the family of Teresa Gomez for $20 million.
The settlement comes over a year after Las Cruces Police Department officer Felipe Hernandez killed Gomez, 45, as she drove away from the officer. Hernandez unleashed a dozen curse words, lied to Gomez, and threatened to shoot her with a Taser as she waited in a car outside of a public housing complex before ultimately killing her on Oct. 3, 2023.
Hernandez is no longer a police officer and faces criminal charges for the incident, including one count of second-degree murder. His trial is set for June.
“The City will respect the criminal justice process and the outcome of that 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,” a news release said.
The city often settles with families of people killed by police officers, especially in situations where the officer acted aggressively, or there are questions about the legality of the killing. But this is the first time the city has chosen to release information about the settlement and the first time it has offered condolences for a police shooting.
"The City Manager, with input from the City Attorney and the Communications Director, felt it was important to be proactively transparent based upon the severity of the incident and cost of the settlement," said Mandy Guss, communications director for the city of Las Cruces, in an email to the Bulletin.
Body camera footage from the shooting shows Hernandez approach Gomez and another man as they sat in a parked car at a public housing complex at the 1300 block of Burley Court.
Gomez initially complies with Hernandez’s order to exit the vehicle, even as Hernandez addresses Gomez’s passenger with a string of profanities. Hernandez also tells Gomez her car was undrivable, threatens to shoot her with his Taser, and threatens to arrest the man she was with for trespassing.
At the end of the video, after Hernandez tells Gomez she can get back in her car, Gomez attempts to drive away. Hernandez responds by shooting her dead.
“The City of Las Cruces determined that the actions on the morning of Oct. 3, 2023, were so severe that charges were brought against Hernandez. The City of Las Cruces and the Las Cruces Police Department are committed to accountability, as shown by LCPD’s prompt decision to charge Hernandez,” the news release said.
Following an investigation by the Doña Ana County Officer Involved Task Force, District Attorney Gerald Byers and Police Chief Jeremy Story announced criminal charges in a joint news conference in January 2024, three months after the shooting.
“From the very beginning of Mr. Hernandez’s interactions with Ms. Gomez, the ability to manage protocol was nonexistent,” Gerald Byers said during that conference. “Interactions with her, just on a human level, was exceptionally subpar and certainly did not meet the standards that LCPD demands of its officers.”
Following Byers’ decision to charge Hernandez, an Ohio man sent Byers a racist voicemail that intimated a threat of violence. That man was criminally charged and sentenced in federal court.
“Following an administrative investigation, Hernandez was relieved of his duties in May 2024, and he no longer works for the City of Las Cruces,” the news release said.
The settlement is the largest in the city’s history and is believed to be the largest in state history.
Because of the size of the settlement, the news release said an ordinance will be brought to the city council in January to approve financing of the settlement.
