Officials identify inmate killed at Las Cruces correctional facility

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The New Mexico Corrections Department identified the inmate killed at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility near Las Cruces on December 5, 2023.

21-year-old Richard M. Cresap had been serving a 15-year prison sentence for the second-degree murder of Alexander Jackson. Jackson died in 2021. Cresap was sentenced in April of 2022.

Reporting from our sister station in Albuquerque, KOB, at the time of Cresap's sentencing reveals Cresap killed Jackson in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. At the time, investigators said Cresap shot Jackson 11 times as the two friends fought.

New Mexico State Police investigators are leading the investigation into Cresap's death. ABC-7 is working to learn more about what led up to Cresap's death. State officials initially said investigators were treating Cresap's death as a suspected homicide.

Read ABC-7's initial report of Cresap's death here.