Detectives say 42-year-old Edgar Perez retrieved a rifle after a confrontation and shot Jesus “Marvin” Alba De La Cruz twice, killing him.

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

SUNLAND PARK - A Sunland Park man is charged with first-degree murder after police say he shot and killed another man during a confrontation on Palma Drive last week.

According to court documents filed Oct. 14 in Doña Ana County Magistrate Court, Edgar Perez, 42, is accused of killing Jesus “Marvin” Alba De La Cruz on Oct. 13 with deliberate intent. Investigators allege Perez threatened the victim with a machete-type knife before retrieving a rifle and firing twice.

Sunland Park Police Detective Ivette Ramirez wrote in a statement of probable cause that officers responded shortly before 5 p.m. to reports of a shooting at 128 Palma Drive. Patrol Officer I. Rodriguez found the victim with gunshot wounds and began life-saving efforts, but the man died at the scene.

Surveillance video captured the confrontation and shows a man identified as Perez walking toward the victim, then leaving the scene with a rifle and driving away in a red Camaro, the affidavit states. Detectives collected two .223-caliber shell casings at the scene.

Witnesses told police the dispute may have stemmed from an ongoing conflict involving a woman previously in a relationship with both men. One witness said Perez claimed the victim “hit him,” but investigators noted he did not appear injured when he returned home.

Perez was arrested later that day and requested an attorney, declining to give a statement to police, according to the affidavit.

A Public Safety Assessment filed by Pretrial Services rated Perez as low risk for new criminal activity and moderate for failure to appear, recommending Pretrial Monitoring Level 1 — the lowest supervision level short of release. However, the District Attorney’s Office filed an expedited motion to detain him without bond, arguing that “no release conditions will reasonably protect the safety of others or the community.”

Prosecutors cited Perez’s prior arrests for resisting officers and negligent use of a deadly weapon — all previously dismissed — as well as a 2023 felony drug case in Texas that was also dismissed. The state said Perez has a history of failing to appear in court and “a complete disregard for the safety of others.”

The Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office said it intends to seek a grand jury indictment in the case.

Perez remains held at the Doña Ana County Detention Center pending a pretrial detention hearing.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.