Wrongful death lawsuit filed after Las Cruces officers allegedly abandon veteran’s suicide call
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KVIA) -- Tuesday, a Las Cruces law firm filed a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit against the city, two Las Cruces Police officers and the Mesilla Valley Research Dispatch Authority (MVRDA). The lawsuit comes after the 2025 death of a 28-year-old Army veteran.
Singleton Schreiber LLC said weeks after returning home to Las Cruces in April 2025, Jacob Garcia called 911 to report he was suicidal and armed and asked the dispatcher to "get someone there now."
Two Las Cruces Police Department officers, Hector Lopez and David Udero, went to Garcia's apartment with fire and medical units. The law firm said Garcia's call was a high priority suicidal-subject emergency.
According to the complaint, the officers didn't go up to Garcia's apartment, knock on his door or tried to find him. The officers allegedly stayed in their vehicles and told dispatch to cancel fire and ambulance units, the law firm said.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleged the officers turned off their body cameras and left without confirming they found Garcia.
The complaint also alleged MVRDA didn't question the officers' order and failed to re-dispatch or escalate the call after receiving a second report about Garcia's suicidal intent 45 minutes later.
Garica was still alive and communicated with his brother after officers left, according to the complaint. Text messages show he talked to his brother until 2:03 p.m. after the scene cleared, the law firm said.
Garcia died from a gunshot wound, the law firm said. The complaint alleged emergency responders could have found him if they weren't ordered to leave. Fire, an air and ground ambulance showed up after Garcia's brother found him and called 911, the law firm said.
The lawsuit claimed negligence, wrongful death and violations of the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, according to the law firm. It alleged the officers' actions as a "state-created danger."
The lawsuit asks for damages under the state's Wrongful Death Act, Civil Rights Act and Tort Claim Act on behalf of Garcia's estate and family.
Singleton Schreiber LLP filed the lawsuit alongside co-counsel Theodore R. Markowski of Markowski Ruvalcaba Law Firm, LLC, in the Doña Ana County Third Judicial District Court.
