A New Mexico police officer who allegedly fatally shot a woman as she tried to drive away while he was questioning her has been charged with murder.
Felipe Hernandez is accused of shooting Teresa Gomez, 45, three times in Las Cruces last October and handed himself into authorities earlier this week.
“From the very beginning of Mr Hernandez’s interaction with Ms Gomez, the ability to manage protocol is non-existent,” Doña Ana County District Attorney Gerald Byers told reporters on Tuesday.
“His interactions with her, just on a human level, was exceptionally subpar and did not meet the standards that LCPD demands of its officers.”
Mr Byers also said that there was “no necessity for him to use deadly force” on the woman and that there was no reason for self-defence as he was not in the “zone of danger.”
On 3 October at around 4.45am, the officer made contact with Teresa Gomez, 45, along with a passenger, Jesus Garcia, in her vehicle while they were parked outside a public housing complex.
In a nine-minute body cam video, the officer asked the woman to step out of her car so he could ask her some questions, which she was at first reluctant to do but eventually complied.
Mr Hernandez told Ms Gomez that she and her passenger were trespassing, but Ms Gomez said repeatedly she was unaware of any visitor rules.
Ms Gomez said had just been visiting someone at the address and was looking for keys she had just lost.
Throughout the video, Mr Hernandez is shouting comments and threatening to arrest her and to make her life “a living hell” if she did not comply with his orders.
“Step out now, or I’m going to pull you out,” he said at one point, also threatening to stun her with a taser. The woman finally stepped out of the car.
He also noticed the passenger in the car, Mr Garcia, who was allegedly ordered by a judge not to be on the property.
“Jesus Garcia! Holy f***! You’re back on the f***** property,” the officer said in the footage in one instance.
The woman questioned the officer why he needed her identification, to which Hernandez started to explain the trespassing policies. Ms Gomez said she was unaware of the rules.
“Can you just shut the f*** up, lady, for 10 f******seconds?” Hernandez said at one point in the footage, to which the woman replied, “Why are you talking to me like that?”
Ms Gomez asked if she could sit back down in the car, and the officer agreed while he was writing down her information.
However, Ms Gomez started her car and tried to drive away from the scene when the officer shot at least three rounds towards the vehicle.
Bodycam footage showed Mr Hernandez yelling at them to stop before he shot at Ms Gomez as she was trying to get away.
Ms Gomez was taken to hospital and later died. The passenger was not injured but was later arrested on misdemeanour and felony warrants, KFOX14 reports.
Mr Hernandez, who was with the police for eight years, is currently on administrative leave until the investigation continues.
