Teen found guilty of gunning down Las Cruces man
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A Las Cruces jury found 19-year-old Jamari Sanchez guilty of second-degree murder Friday.
Sanchez, who was a juvenile when he killed 31-year-old Matthew Portillo in September 2021, was tried as an adult.
Police investigators say Sanchez and three other teens were driving along the 1000 block of East Juniper in the early morning hours of September 5, 2021. They pulled up to Portillo, who police say was drunk and walking home from a bar, then Sanchez, sitting in the back passenger-side seat, started arguing with Portillo. Surveillance video shows Sanchez shot Portillo. When emergency crews arrived at the scene later on they found Portillo had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head.
ABC-7 reported on this murder when it happened. You can read our initial reporting here.
ABC-7 continues to ask questions in this case and learn Sanchez's motive for the murder. We are also working to learn when Sanchez will be sentenced.
“We are a society that is facing a gun culture of young men with firearms who are willing to use them," Dona Ana District Attorney Gerald Byers said. "These young men involved in gun violence resulting in death face adult sanctions and accountability for their actions.”
