A New Mexico police officer has been charged over a year after a Black man accused of stealing a beer was shot and killed at a gas station, KOAT reports.
The fatal shooting of Preston Eze unfolded in August 2022 when Las Cruces police were called to a Chevron gas station after a store clerk claimed he stole a beer.
Body camera footage shows police get Eze out of the vehicle before he and one of the officers fell to the ground. According to a criminal complaint, Eze tried to grab an officer's Taser while he was on top of him.
“In response Officer Lunsford drew his service weapon and shot Eze on the back, left side of his head at point-blank range," officials said.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez charged Las Cruces Officer Brad Lunsford last week with voluntary manslaughter. Lunsford surrendered to the charges on October 3 and was taken into custody.
“We've been asking for this since my son was killed,” Eze's mother, Loretta Eze, said in a statement.
The Las Cruces Police Department said Lunsford was working until the charges were filed. The officer is currently on paid administrative leave.
“You shoot somebody in the head, you want you dead. So, he came out that day to kill my son,” Eze's father, Isaac Eze, said.
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