Overview

• A New Mexico jury convicted former police officer Brad Lunsford of voluntary manslaughter in the 2022 shooting of Presley Eze, a Black man, during a confrontation at a gas station.
• The incident began with a 911 call reporting Eze for allegedly stealing beer, escalating into a physical scuffle where Eze reportedly touched another officer's stun gun before being fatally shot at point-blank range.
• Prosecutors argued that Lunsford's immediate use of deadly force, shooting Eze in the back of the head, was unreasonable and constituted an abuse of power.
• Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the case an example of poor police tactics and systemic issues in law enforcement's treatment of Black individuals, drawing parallels to other high-profile cases of police violence.
• Lunsford faces up to nine years in prison, with evidence including police body-camera footage playing a key role in the jury's decision.