Month: March 2018

Three members of the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico prison gang have been convicted in a Las Cruces federal court while a fourth defendant has been acquitted of all charges. After nearly a week of deliberations, jurors on Monday convicted Anthony Ray Baca, Daniel Sanchez and Carlos Herrera of engaging in a criminal racketeering enterprise including

Police in Texas are investigating a former Las Cruces resident being accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. Las Cruces police learned that Anthony David Vallejo, 24, was being investigated by police in Melissa, Texas for sexually assaulting the young girl in Las Cruces. The young girl was interviewed in Texas and accused Vallejo of

El Paso County Commissioners Court approved to extend the county’s burn barn for 90 days after March 15. A burn barn was put in place in April of 2011 in efforts to combat illegal burning that could be harmful to the community. That ban has been consistently renewed every 90 days since its inception. “What

El Paso Police Department officers are investigating a deadly shooting in Northeast El Paso, according to Sgt. Kiki Carrillo. The call came in after 3 a.m. Monday morning on the 5200 block of Wren Ave. Authorities say one man is dead as a result of the shooting. Police said Thursday afternoon the investigation continues and

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized 164.5 pounds of liquid meth with an estimated street value of $3.948 million Friday at the Paso Del Norte international crossing. CBP officers were performing a sweep of vehicles when a drug sniffing dog alerted to a 1989 Chevrolet pick-up. During a search CBP officers removed six

A Chaparral man accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old child allegedly told investigators he did not believe he did anything wrong because the child never asked him to stop. Pablo Meza Aragon, 73, of the 500 block of Mesilla View in Chaparral, New Mexico, was booked Saturday into the Doña Ana County Detention Center on

Rodney Terry is stepping down as head basketball coach at Fresno State to take over the head basketball coach at the University of Texas at El Paso, the Fresno Bee reports. UTEP officials have not confirmed the information, but sources tell ABC-7 Terry is indeed leaving Fresno State and that UTEP will be his next

The Latest on an emergency landing at Albuquerque International Sunport A passenger described the panicked screams, chaos and crying on board as his Dallas-bound Southwest flight made an emergency landing at Albuquerque International Sunport. Brandon Cox said he had to jump from the wing, as did many other passengers, to escape the plane, as a

Dozens of family members and friends continue the search for a Vietnam veteran, son, father and grandfather. “He’s superman to me,” said Moises Ramirez, the nephew of Jose Margaro Gonzalez. The veteran drives a white four-door Chevy Silverado with a primer top. He has a personalized purple heart recipient license plate that reads “GYM2PH.” Gonzalez

French couturier Hubert de Givenchy, a pioneer of ready-to-wear who designed Audrey Hepburn’s little black dress in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” has died at the age of 91. The house of Givenchy paid homage to its founder in a statement as “a major personality of the world of French haute couture and a gentleman who symbolized

Stories don’t get much cuter than this: Girl Scouts, helping miniature horses! Mini Miracles Horse Rescue rehabilitates the animals for adoption, and trains them so they can find forever homes. The facility has needed an obstacle course for quite some time. That’s where the group of 4th and 5th grade animal lovers come in. Girl

Alamo Drafthouse is offering free movie tickets to teachers for Spring Break at its Montecillo location in West El Paso. The offer runs from Friday, March 9th through Sunday, March 18th for educators and administrators to see any show at any time of the day for free. Participants can redeem their ticket by showing a

It was clear Saturday night that the NMSU Aggies were going dancing, but what they didn’t know is who they would play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Sunday, the Aggies got their answer. As a 12th seed, the NMSU Aggies will face the 5th seed, Clemson Tigers, in the first round of

Border Patrol agents and Sunland Park police are investigating to determine how a man died in a culvert by the Sunland Park landfill located on Camino Real and McNutt road on Sunday. Police officers say Border Patrol agents were chasing two men suspected of being undocumented immigrants early Sunday morning when they ran into a

We’ve brought you news about tragic car crashes in Northeast El Paso at the US54 and Mesquite Hills drive. A woman died in a crash there this past December and neighbors say more non-deadly crashes have followed. TXDOT has now installed a traffic light to control the area. Neighbors ABC-7 spoke with said they feel

A San Francisco fertility clinic says thousands of frozen eggs and embryos may have been damaged after a liquid nitrogen failure in a storage tank. Dr. Carl Herbert, president of Pacific Fertility Clinic, told the Washington Post on Sunday that officials have informed some 400 patients of the failure that occurred March 4. Herbert says

Three people have been killed, including a child, in an early morning house fire in upstate New York. The Albany Times Union reports the blaze began early Sunday at a home in Rensselaer (rehn-suh-LEER’). Police have not yet released the names of the victims, but reports say they were a mother, a grandmother and a

President Donald Trump’s plan to combat school shootings will include helping states pay for firearms training for teachers and a call to improve the background check system. But Trump’s plan will not include a push to increase the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons or an embrace of more comprehensive background checks, as Trump has

Fifteen police officers have been placed on restricted duty in Austin, Texas, after two officer-involved fatal shootings in the last month. The Austin American-Statesman reports that 15 is an unprecedented number of officers placed on administrative duty while the shootings are investigated. Police Chief Brian Manley says the officers serve in different units of the

A 22-year-old woman has been sentenced to seven years in prison for a crash that killed a Brazos County man and his unborn child. KWTX-TV reports Shana Elliott was also sentenced Friday to 10 years of community service for injuring the pregnant woman in the August 2016 crash. She had pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter.

It was a rainy day in the borderland on Sunday. Downtown, right by the border, ABC-7 caught shoppers wearing hoods and hats as they looked in and out of stores. At the Fox Plaza Shopping Center and Mercado, many vendors chose to stay home. At Eastwood Park, there wasn’t a person in sight. ABC-7 only

Bankrupt retailer Toys “R” Us may shut all its U.S. stores as soon as this upcoming week, according to several reports. That’s terrible news for the two biggest publicly traded toy companies. Investors are clearly preparing for the worst. Shares of Hasbro fell 3.5% Friday morning while Mattel plunged 7%. Smaller toy company Jakks Pacific

Authorities have uncovered human remains under concrete in the backyard of a Disney worker who disappeared in 2015. Michael Shaver has been missing for three years. Authorities went to the monorail mechanic’s home on Feb. 16 and his 35-year-old wife Laurie Shaver allowed investigators to search the home. It’s not clear what prompted authorities to

Authorities say criminals are using stolen cars while committing a host of other crimes ranging from armed robberies to drive-by gang shootings in Albuquerque. Police used to view auto theft as a nonviolent crime often connected to the need for money to buy drugs. Now, crime rates have skyrocketed across the board. The Albuquerque Journal

A jack-knifed semi is blocking traffic on I-10 West near Paisano. There have been no reports of any injuries. Expect delays if you plan on traveling in this area.

The New Mexico State Aggies are going dancing for the second straight year. NMSU won the WAC Tournament Championship after beating Grand Canyon University by a final of 72-58. Aggies got off to a slow start in the first half, but they settled down to go up by 11 points at halftime. NMSU would never

Saturday marked the fourth day of the Las Cruces International Film Festival. Thousands of moviegoers watched independent movies and attended workshops led by film actors. Event organizers told ABC-7 the festival broke it’s attendance record this year. Those who attended said it’s a great event that can boost the city’s economy and film-making industry. “We

The Ascarate Fishing Club held a special event for ABC-7’s Estela Casas, as she undergoes breast cancer treatment. Saturday, the club dedicated its tournament to her at Ascarate Park. Members wore pink shirts, jackets and hats. Some participants also wore pink and tied pink ribbons on their fishing rods. Casas, who has been battling breast

More than 30 teams came from different parts of the state of Texas to compete in a local underwater robotics competition. The event was held Saturday at Armijo Swimming Pool. The competition was a chance for middle school and high school students to learn new STEM-related activities to achieve the goal of going to nationals.

Dozens gathered Saturday morning to honor women who have served in the military. The city of Las Cruces and the United Military Women of the SouthWest officially dedicated the Women Veterans monument Saturday morning. “When we got out of the service there wasn’t any big parties or anything…this is something altogether different. It’s just amazing,”