Las Cruces, NM (KKOB) – A Doña Ana County man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for a deadly freeway shooting that killed a teenager near Las Cruces in 2023.
19-year-old Drake Armendariz pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Benjamin Archuleta. Prosecutors say Archuleta was a passenger in a vehicle traveling on Interstate 25 near Las Cruces when Armendariz fired shots into the vehicle. Archuleta was struck by gunfire and died at a hospital one day before his 18th birthday.
Armendariz was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but 16 years were suspended, leaving 14 years to serve.
After his release, he will be required to complete two years of parole and five years of probation.
Family members have said the shooting followed a long-running dispute for over two years that Armendariz had threatened Benjamin and was not a random act of violence.
The case had been dismissed without prejudice in February 2024 by the previous district attorney
