Month: February 2019

Professor Jacob Benitez is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu today, but his love of martial arts all started with Bruce Lee, he says. He’s turned that lifelong affection for martial arts into a blossoming Jiu-Jitsu stuido called Gracie Barra Las Cruces. And under the tutelage of Benitez, many students are excelling in their young

A recent poll shows El Pasoans remain very much divided as to whether the multipurpose cultural arts facility should be built in the Duranguito neighborhood downtown. For the second consecutive year, ABC-7 commissioned a survey of 400 El Pasoans who watch at least one evening newscast, twice a week. In 2019, 328 of those surveyed

New Mexico State Police have identified the suspect who allegedly led Border Patrol and Doña Ana County deputies on a pursuit that led to a shooting on I-25. Thirty-nine-year-old James Kirkland, of Kingman, Arizona, allegedly failed to stop at the Border Patrol check point on I-25. Border Patrol agents pursued the vehicle and Kirkland allegedly

El Paso Police arrested a man for allegedly possessing 5.9 grams of heroin and was wanted for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. The department’s gang unit executed a search warrant early Tuesday at a residence in the 5700 block of Lexington, in Northeast El Paso. Police said 35-year old Mark Anthony Mares was at

Former representative Beto O’Rourke is set to speak at a gun control meeting Wednesday as the public waits for his final decision on whether he will run for president in 2020. Moms Demand Action, a pro-gun control group, will host its first El Paso Chapter meeting Wednesday at 5:30 pm, at the El Paso Community

Prosecutors say a man is facing up to 12 ½ years in prison after being convicted of multiple felony charges in a 2017 Alamogordo assault case. They say 43-year-old Orlando Marroquin was found guilty of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse and criminal damage

Undercover vice officers arrested four men and two women on various charges and seized a variety of drugs during a sting operation targeting prostitution, police said. The officers contacted the suspects allegedly offering escort services via online adult websites. The suspects allegedly met with the undercover officers in a hotel room and offered to perform

As thousands of Central American and Cuban migrants arrive in the Borderland, the space to house the migrants seeking asylum is becoming scarce. Ruben Garcia, the head of Annunciation House, told ABC-7 the Department of Homeland Security needs to build a new $192-million Central Processing Center lawmakers approved earlier this month. “Get it open, and

Businesses continue to setup at the newest shopping center in northwest El Paso. Adam Frank, president or River Oaks Properties, the development company behind West Towne Marketplace, said the 500,000 square-foot shopping center is 90 percent leased. “Flix Brewhouse will be opening in June,” Frank told ABC-7. “It’s a new movie theater to El Paso

Las Cruces Police arrested a man who allegedly beat his ex-girlfriend while she was holding their two-month-old son. Further, the man allegedly stole the woman’s money on Valentine’s Day. Police charged Alexander Ray Madrid, 26, with a third-degree felony count of robbery, a third-degree felony count of aggravated battery against a household member and a

The man accused of killing an El Paso woman in August 2018 was placed at the scene of the murder because he allegedly used a credit card the victim had activated two hours before her death, a criminal complaint states. Rene Raul Torres, 42, is charged with Murder for the killing of 27-year-old Amber Marie

The man who allegedly shot three men outside an Upper Valley bar, killing one of them, fired his weapon after he was assaulted outside the bar, court documents obtained by ABC-7 state. Police identified the man shot and killed as 37-year-old Ruben Narciso Ramirez. The alleged gunman was identified as 29-year-old Josue Rojas Jr. The

Federal border authorities say 180 migrants have been arrested for illegally crossing into the United States near a border community in southern New Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday the group crossed near Sunland Park early Tuesday, marking the latest wave of Central Americans to arrive in the state in recent months. Earlier

Saying there is no evidence of widespread election fraud in Texas, a federal judge Wednesday blocked the removal of any registered voter after state Republican leaders loudly but wrongly questioned the U.S. citizenship of tens of thousands of people. The decision by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of San Antonio temporarily halts a bungled search

President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer told Congress on Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and he testified that Trump is a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat.” KVIA ABC-7 APP USERS, CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE Michael Cohen suggested that Trump also implicitly

The man who robbed an East El Paso 7-Eleven clerk at knife-point led police officers on a car chase and was eventually arrested in Far East El Paso, police said. Juan Gabriel Mojica-Sandoval, 44, is charged with Aggravated Robbery, Evading Arrest in a Vehicle and Failure to Identify. At about 11:20 a.m. on Monday, February

The Socorro High School mariachi group, Los Gavilanes de Socorro, received a Division 1 superior rating, the highest rating possible, at the 2019 UIL State Mariachi Festival. The competition took place at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas. SISD had three of the four mariachi groups in the region to advance

Washington (CNN) – The Department of Health and Human Services received more than 4,500 complaints of sexual abuse against unaccompanied minors from 2014-2018, according to internal agency documents released Tuesday by Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch. In addition,1,303 complaints were reported to the Justice Department during that same time frame, according to the documents. Deutch

There is a crash on I-10 West and Zaragoza that is blocking traffic. A major delay is building in the area. Drivers need to take Gateway West or Montana to avoid this area.

Americas and Clint were the last two local teams still standing in the boys basketball state playoffs, but both suffered close defeats in round three Tuesday. Americas fell 39-33 to Odessa Permian in 6A in a game played in Alpine while Clint lost 46-44 to Levelland High School in a 4A matchup in Monahans. Neither

The New Mexico State baseball team had been on fire offensively through the first eight games of the season. But they hadn’t played anyone of Texas Tech’s caliber. After scoring 146 runs combined in their first eight games, the Aggies were held scoreless Tuesday in Lubbock in a 7-0 loss to the third-ranked Red Raiders.

A new audit details exactly what went wrong during a botched weed removal project in Las Cruces in 2017. “It’s pretty embarrassing to see this,” City Councilman Gill Sorg told ABC-7 in October 2017. He called the project to excavate the weeds in Chandler Tank an “ecological disaster.” The city’s 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

A church in El Paso’s Lower Valley is asking the community for donations after ICE asked for its help housing more than 100 Honduran migrants. Caminos De Vida Church told ABC-7 it was not prepared to receive the migrants. A church member told ABC-7 the migrants were very hungry when they got off the CBP

Months after a 12-inch pipe spilled 250,000 gallons of gasoline near Anthony, New Mexico, the company responsible continues to excavate contaminated soil. “We are continuing to focus on the excavation of gasoline-impacted soil, continuing to investigate the impacts on groundwater,” said Allen Fore, who manages public affairs for Kinder Morgan. As KVIA reported in January,

Catholic Bishops and social justice leaders from border cities in the U.S. and Mexico gathered in the Borderland Tuesday to discuss migration issues. The Tex-Mex Bishops Conference is a three-day meeting held in partnership with the HOPE Border Institute in order to strategize new ways to strengthen the collective impact of the faith community on

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has announced another round of university regent nominations. The Democratic governor’s picks for the New Mexico State University Board of Regents include Dina Chacon-Reitzel, Ammu Devasthali and student Luke Sanchez. At the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, the nominations include Yolanda Jones King and student Veronica Espinoza.

Democrats ignored a veto threat and rammed legislation through the House Tuesday that would stymie President Donald Trump’s bid for billions of extra dollars for his border wall, escalating a clash over whether he was abusing his powers to advance his paramount campaign pledge. The House’s 245-182 vote to block Trump’s national emergency declaration throws

Police officials said a routine traffic stop in Central El Paso led to the arrest of the driver on drug and gun charges. Darrius Wright, 29, was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance over 4 grams/under 200 grams and Unlawful Carrying of a Handgun. Wright’s passenger, 25-year-old Keelia Buda, was arrested for traffic warrants,

Las Cruces Police are investigating a crash on Amador Avenue that hospitalized a 65-year-old bicyclist. It happened shortly after 5 p.m. Monday, February 25, 2019. Police and firefighters were dispatched to a crash between a white Chevrolet pickup and a bicyclist at the intersection of Amador Avenue and Motel Boulevard. Police said the bicyclist was

A House committee voted Tuesday to subpoena Trump administration officials over family separations at the southern border, the first issued in the new Congress as Democrats have promised to hold the administration aggressively to count. KVIA ABC-7 APP USERS, CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE COMMITTEE HEARING LIVE The decision by the Oversight Committee will compel