LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KTSM) – A former Las Cruces Police officer, accused of shooting a man to death in 2022, will stand trial starting Monday, Feb. 3 in Las Cruces.
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Brad Lunsford is accused of shooting and killing Presley Eze in August 2022.
Lunsford is facing a charge of voluntary manslaughter with a firearm enhancement.
In August 2022, police responded to a gas station along Valley Drive in Las Cruces after Eze reportedly stole a beer.
As we previously reported when New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez announced the charge in October 2023, Lunsford was the first officer on the scene.
Lunsford began questioning Eze, and Lunsford was unable to verify Eze’s identity.
Eze resisted the officers’ attempt to take him into custody and was unarmed and shirtless at the time of the incident, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
A “scuffle” then ensued and Eze ended up on the ground and on top of one of the responding officers.
During the ongoing struggle, Eze placed his hand on the second officer’s taser though it was not cycled or deployed against either officer, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Lunsford then “drew his service weapon and shot Eze on the back, left side of his head at point blank range,” according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The Attorney General’s Office says it consulted with the use of force experts who concluded that Lunsford’s use of deadly force was “not reasonable under the circumstances and that other, less lethal options could have been used to subdue Eze.”
We have reached out to Lunsford’s attorney and to the City of Las Cruces for comment.
The jury trial is set to begin at 8 a.m. Monday. Judge Jim Foy of the 6th Judicial District will be presiding.