Killing of woman in Las Cruces raises transparency questions
By Justin Garcia Las Cruces Sun-News May 1, 2022 Updated 2 hrs ago
LAS CRUCES — A Las Cruces police officer shot and killed 75-year-old Amelia Baca on the evening of April 16. But it wasn’t until two days later that the city confirmed a killing occurred via a news release after multiple news media outlets published the family’s account.
The news release left out several details, such as Baca’s name and age, and raised several questions that have, so far, gone unanswered by city and police officials, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
“The Officer-involved Incident Task Force is still in the preliminary stages of its investigation into Saturday’s death of 75-year-old Amelia Baca of Las Cruces,” Las Cruces spokesman Dan Trujillo said April 19 in a response to the Sun-News regarding the timeline of the investigation and whether a specialized mental health team was deployed to the scene.
Trujillo added, “The Las Cruces Police Department cannot provide details of the investigation at this time. The name of the officer will not be released at this time. The Officer-involved Incident Task Force will release findings from the investigation at an appropriate time.”
More:
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/killing-of-new-mexico-woman-raises-transparency-questions/article_98268a27-7d04-59cb-9230-1bb6b9631299.html