Las Cruces Man Shot And Killed At Apartment Complex

A birthday party in Las Cruces turns tragic after man is shot and killed as the result of an argument late Friday night.

The shooting victim was identified as 44-year-old Benjamin Baeza by his sister, Silvia Baeza. She told ABC-7 her brother and family were celebrating her birthday at her apartment in the 200 block of Desert Rose Friday night.

Silvia Baeza said her brother got into an argument with the man outside her apartment. The man and her brother apparently knew each other and began to fight over a $30 debt, she said.

The argument quickly turned into a physical confrontation and the man shot Benjamin Baeza in the apartment complex’s parking lot. Silvia Baeza said the shooter ran away into a nearby park and then threw the gun into a canal.

Police identified the shooter as Tony Garza, 31, of the 1000 block of Luna. He has been charged him with Murder in connection to the death of Baeza.

Emergency crews airlifted Benjamin Baeza to University Medical Center in El Paso but he was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

“I’ll miss him very, very much,” Sylvia Baeza said, “He was a good person. He had a good heart.”