ABC-7 Xtra: A look back at 2023 in the Borderland

El Paso, Texas (KVIA) -- 2023 was a year filled with cheers, jeers and tears.

We cheered when UTEP named a new, vibrant head football coach. Former coach Dana Dimel was fired after a losing season. Scotty Walden was named to replace him.

Many in the community jeered when we learned two city leaders together spent more than $10,000 filling up their gas tanks with taxpayer money.

2023 saw the firing of City Manager Tommy Gonzales. Many El Pasoans jeered when they learned about his almost one million dollar payout.

El Paso also lost its longest serving police chief, Greg Allen, who died after complications with a surgical procedure. We were also saddened by the death of El Paso native and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner. O'Conner became the first female justice on the nation's highest court.

2023 also brought the federal conviction of the Cielo Vista Walmart mass shooter, Patrick Crusius. Jurors took only hours to to find Crusius guilty of murdering 23 people and injuring 22 others on August 3, 2019. He is serving 90 consecutive life sentences. He now waits behind bars for his state trial to begin, where the El Paso district attorney has vowed to seek the death penalty.

Also in 2023, David Renteria was executed for the murder of 5-year-old Alexandra Flores. Renteria lured the little girl from a lower valley Walmart, killing her and burning her body, more than two decades ago. ABC-7 was the only English-language TV station to witness the execution.

2023 also saw a steep increase in Department of Public Safety pursuits leading to crashes in the borderland. Migrants encounters surged in 2023 and are expected to continue to climb in 2024.

Las Cruces elected a new mayor, who is set to be sworn into office in 2024, after long-time mayor Ken Miyagishima decided not to seek re-election. Miyagishima served as mayor of Las Cruces for 16 years.

You can watch a recap of all these stories on ABC-7 Xtra this Sunday at 10:35 p.m.