Corrections officer in New Mexico allegedly shoots naked inmate with shotgun
A former inmate who was incarcerated at the Doña Ana County Detention Center (DACDC) back in May of 2022 has recently filed a lawsuit with the help of his attorney, against a corrections officer, claiming excessive use of force and battery, according to court documents provided by the New Mexico Prison and Jail Project.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A former inmate who was incarcerated at the Doña Ana County Detention Center (DACDC) back in May of 2022 has recently filed a lawsuit with the help of his attorney, against a corrections officer, claiming excessive use of force and battery, according to court documents provided by the New Mexico Prison and Jail Project.
Court documents state the plaintiff, Vicente Sanchez was a pretrial detainee at DACDC. The defendant, Brady Kehres was employed as a corrections officer at DACDC in Las Cruces.
On May 4, 2022, at 8:45 p.m., Vicente was taking a shower in his housing unit. At the same time, DACDC Sergeant Christian Ramirez entered Vicente's unit to pass shaving razors out to the inmates.
Sgt. Ramirez instructed all inmates in the unit to return to their cells; however, several inmates continued to "play card games and watch television," according to an incident report written by Sgt. Ramirez.
The incident report adds that inmate Rafael Rodriguez ignored Sgt. Ramirez's last directive and entered the shower.
Court documents state Vicente was not aware Sgt. Ramirez had entered the unit and was instructing inmates to return to their cells.
Sgt. Ramirez then determined his "directives had been ignored and called for assistance," according to court documents.
Multiple correction officers responded, including Kehres who was wearing a body-worn recording device and was armed with a "Kel-Tec shotgun", which is a shotgun that was loaded with "less-lethal" ammunition aka projectiles.
When Kehres entered the unit, several corrections officers were standing near or in front of the shower area. Kehres raised his weapon upon entering the unit, according to court documents.
Kehres then "shrieked at the other officers to move out of his way."
At this time, inmate Rodriguez and Vicente were in separate shower stalls, across from each other. Both men had the curtains closed over the shower stall and the water was running.
Kehres screamed once, "Get out of the shower!" and then immediately fired a round into the shower area.
Court documents state less than two seconds passed between Kehres' verbal warning and the fired round.
Both Vicente and Rodriguez looked out from the shower stalls. Vicente showed the officers his hands. Rodriguez walked out of the shower and attempted to wrap a towel around his waist.
Kehres yelled at Rodriguez to get down on the ground, to which the inmate got down on his knees.
Kehres then changed his position and pointed his weapon "directly into Vicente's shower stall," according to court documents.
The body cam video showed Vicente pulling his towel from the outside hook into the shower stall before Kehres fired at him.
Before Vicente had a chance to exit the shower, Kehres fired two shots directly at him, according to court documents.
At least one shot hit Vicente's leg which resulted in a large and deep wound on his lower right leg.
Vicente left a pool of blood in the shower area and was in a great deal of pain and was bleeding profusely.
Vicente's mobility was severely limited for the next several months and he received daily wound care through July 8, 2022, when he was released from DACDC.
Court documents state Kehres "knew neither Vicente or Rodriguez were posing a threat to anyone" and that both inmates were not armed.
Court documents also state Vicente posed no threat to corrections officers or anyone else and Kehres "knew that Vicente presented no threat".
In his subsequent incident narrative, Kehres claimed that Vicente and Mr. Rodriguez acted “aggressive towards staff.”
Six other correction officers witnessed and wrote narratives on the incident. The narratives did not mention any aggression from Vicente or Rodriguez.
After the alleged incident occurred and Vicente was escorted to receive medical attention, Rodriguez was escorted to his cell and "protested that he would have returned to his cell as soon as he finished his shower," according to court documents.
Kehres' then responded, stating that he and Vicente were "given a chance to comply with directives and refused." This response was captured on body camera footage which disproves Kehres' "fabricated claim of aggressive or threatening behavior," according to court documents.
As of result of this alleged incident, Vicente's attorney has filed the following claims against Kehres, specifically claiming that Kehres allegedly violated Vicente's fourteenth amendment right with the excessive use of force and battery.
Court documents allege Kehres used force willfully, with wanton and reckless disregard for Vicente's health and safety.
Documents also allege Kehres "intended to cause a harmful and offensive contact with Vicente."