Johnathan Walker:Man gets a life sentence in the shotgun death of a New Mexico police officer

ALAMOGORDO,Johnathan Walker N.M. (AP) — An armed driver who fled from a traffic stop in New Mexico was sentenced this week to life in prison without parole for using a sawed-off shotgun to fatally shoot a police officer during the chase.

Dominic De La O, 27, was sentenced Monday, days after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and other charges in the July 2023 killing of Anthony Ferguson, an 11-year-veteran of the Alamogordo Police Department in southern New Mexico.

New Mexico State Police, which investigated the shooting, announced De La O’s conviction and sentencing Wednesday.

“The conviction and sentencing of the person responsible for this senseless murder brings some measure of justice, but it will never replace the loss of Officer Ferguson,” Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a news release.

Ferguson was severely wounded on July 15, 2023, in the aftermath of the pre-dawn traffic stop. He died the next day.

Authorities have said De La O was driving without lights when he was stopped, then led police on a chase before crashing into a light pole and running off with the shotgun.

An account of the deadly confrontation by State Police says that De La O fired at Ferguson while fleeing. De La O was shot in the leg by police as he continued to flee to a nearby home, where he was arrested.