James Boyd

After officers shot and killed a man camping in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in 2014, outcry over how Albuquerque police deal with people who have mental illness reached a fever pitch. More than three years later, Bernalillo County announced on Tuesday, May 23, that it’s rolling out long-promised teams of mental health experts to respond to crisis calls. 

LISTEN: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In 2014 voters in Bernalillo County voted in favor of a tax for increased mental health services. This came after the shooting by police of James Boyd, a homeless man who had schizophrenia, as well as other shootings by police of people who struggled with mental illness. The tax went into effect in 2015 and is providing up to $20 million annually for new programs through the Bernalillo County Behavioral Health Initiative.

Last fall, a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict for the two former Albuquerque Police Department Officers facing murder charges for shooting and killing homeless camper James Boyd. And that left the door open for another trial. 

In a historic trial earlier this year, a jury weighed the fates of two former Albuquerque police officers who shot and killed James Boyd. Three jurors could not be swayed from a guilty verdict.

The deadlock resulted in a mistrial, and days after it was announced, KUNM’s Marisa Demarco met with one of those jurors—Robby Heckman—in the Foothills of the Sandia Mountains. There, a small white cross marks the spot James Boyd stood before he was killed.

During the murder trial of two former Albuquerque police officers who shot and killed a man with mental illness, video and audio of James Boyd ranting and threatening police officers was played by the defense. The neighbor who called the police on him took the stand to say that he was afraid of the man, who was homeless and camping nearby in the Sandia Foothills. Boyd might not have had a lot of other options.

Two Albuquerque police officers were charged with second-degree murder for an on-the-job shooting for the first time in at least half a century. They were facing up to 15 years in prison for killing James Boyd, who’d been camping illegally for about a month in the Foothills of the Sandia Mountains in 2014. The jury announced that it was deadlocked Tuesday, Oct. 11.

After James Boyd was shot and killed by members of the Albuquerque Police Department, a recording emerged of one of those officers telling a colleague he was going to shoot Boyd hours before he did it. Keith Sandy is facing aggravated battery and second-degree murder charges. During much of his testimony on Wednesday, Oct. 5, he tried to explain police culture and the banter between officers.

For the first time in memory, two former Albuquerque police officers are facing second-degree murder charges for an on-the-job shooting. And their trial is offering a rare glimpse into the mindset of law enforcement in tense situations. Former officer Dominique Perez took the stand in his own defense on Tuesday.

Two former Albuquerque police officers are facing murder charges for what could be the first time here. The effectiveness of the SWAT team in dangerous situations has come into play during the trial, and police who were there the day James Boyd was shot in 2014 have been testifying in court. It’s the first time the public has heard directly from many of these officers. 

The defense has started putting on its case on Thursday, Sept. 29, in the trial of two Albuquerque police officers facing murder charges for shooting and killing James Boyd.  There were protests in Albuquerque after the shooting, and many people objected to police treatment of the homeless man, who had a mental illness.

In the trial of the two Albuquerque police officers who shot and killed James Boyd, question surfaced about why tactical officers went to the scene when they weren’t officially activated that Sunday in 2014. 

District Court Judge Alisa Hadfield declined Wednesday to drop the second-degree murder charges against two former Albuquerque police officers who shot and killed homeless camper James Boyd in 2014. But she did drop voluntary manslaughter charges, leaving jurors with fewer options for their verdict.

In the days after James Boyd was killed by police in Albuquerque, questions arose about whether officers specially trained to talk to people who are mentally ill had been sent to the scene. And it turned out, that an officer known for deescalating situations like the one was sent to the foothills that day in 2014. 

Most of the testimony on Tuesday, Sept. 27, during the trial of the former Albuquerque police officers who shot James Boyd came from an APD officer who was trained to talk to people with mental illnesses. 

Officer Mikal Monette spent a lot of time talking to Boyd, who had a mental illness, before things went south on that day in 2014. Monette had a reputation for being the go-to officer for crisis intervention, he said, and he’d de-escalated hundreds of situations. He told the court he’d never encountered a person he couldn’t talk down.

For most people who’ve seen the footage of Albuquerque Police shooting James Boyd, the scene ends when the shots have been fired. But testimony Monday, Sept. 26, in the trial of former officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez looked at the physical impact of those bullets and what happened next. 

Police shootings around the country are causing protests and outcry, and video footage from many of these shootings is shedding new light on the moments before a person is killed by law enforcement.

Here in New Mexico, a video ignited demonstrations and drew national attention after two Albuquerque Police Department officers shot and killed James Boyd in March of 2014. They’re now on trial for murder.  

The murder trial for two former Albuquerque police officers who shot and killed James Boyd has been going on all week in district court. 

Defense attorneys in the murder trial of the former Albuquerque police officers who killed James Boyd spent Tuesday trying to pick apart the credibility of an expert witness for the prosecution.

Lawyers delivered opening statements and the Albuquerque Police Department’s chief took the stand in the first day of the trial for two former officers facing murder charges after killing a homeless camper in 2014. 

After video of police killing a homeless man in Albuquerque went viral in 2014, hundreds of demonstrators began calling for justice and an end to police brutality. A murder trial for those two officers begins Monday, Sept. 19. 

Police violence against people of color has been at the forefront of national debate in recent months. And in New Mexico, a group advocating for indigenous concerns called the Red Nation has been active on this issue since the killing of James Boyd two years ago.