Third Judicial District Court Judge Conrad Perea sentenced 21-year-old Jeremiah Peña-Nieto to over two decades in prison for a 2020 killing.
In April 2024, Peña-Nieto was convicted of one count of second-degree murder, two counts of tampering with evidence and one count of conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence in the killing of 18-year-old Jacob Daniel Becerra in 2020.
Peña-Nieto was 17 at the time of the murder and was placed into juvenile programs before he aged out of those programs while he was incarcerated. Perea noted that Peña-Nieto’s social media postings showed him flashing guns – showing awareness of his intentions and actions, leading to Perea sentencing Peña-Nieto as an adult.
Peña-Nieto's conviction was the second time he was on trial. In May 2022, a judge declared a mistrial three days into a murder trial after questions about a missing toxicology report prompted an abrupt end to a case involving a juvenile defendant.
On Aug. 6, 2020, shortly before 5 p.m., a Las Cruces police officer discovered a 2018 brown Kia Forte that crashed into a pole on east Farney Lane near west Park Drive. It appeared the Kia was heading south on west Park Drive before it crossed Farney Lane and crashed into a light pole.
The driver was identified as Becerra, who received a fatal gunshot wound. The New Mexico medical investigator’s office determined Becerra’s death to be a homicide.
Witnesses and video footage that were canvased by the Las Cruces Police Department repeatedly indicated a male dressed in black with white shoes running from the scene. After an intensive investigation of video and social media footage, interviews with witnesses and friends of the deceased, Las Cruces Police identified and arrested Peña-Nieto as the passenger who shot and killed Becerra.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Jeremiah Peña-Nieto sentenced as adult for 2020 murder
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