SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico’s Supreme Court upheld Dominic De La O’s murder conviction Thursday in the 2023 deadly shooting of Alamogordo Police Officer Anthony Ferguson.

The Administrative Office of the Courts said July 9 that the state Supreme Court unanimously rejected De La O’s appeal and ruled there was enough evidence to support his convictions.

De La O was previously sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole or release.

De La O argued on appeal that prosecutors failed to prove willful and deliberate murder. He argued the shooting amounted to second-degree murder because it was a rash and impulsive act.

“When officers ordered him to get on the ground, the jury could reasonably have inferred that Defendant deliberately chose not to comply with those orders, but rather to shoot Victim in the face with the sawed-off shotgun that he kept with him for just such a purpose,” the Court said. “We conclude that a reasonable jury could have inferred from those facts a deliberate intent to murder Victim.”

In the opinion written by Justice David K. Thomson, the court said De La O made a series of choices after officers stopped a car for non-working tail lights. The court said he fled in the car with a sawed-off shotgun, ran from police after crashing and kept the weapon with him as he ran on foot.

“When a defendant discards a murder weapon while fleeing the scene, it is reasonable to infer the defendant has done so to avoid prosecution for the murder,” the Court said.

De La O also argued the trial judge should have declared a mistrial after a witness testified that he knew he had an active arrest warrant when he ran from police.

“In this case, the other evidence of guilt was overwhelming,” the Court said. “The single mention of Defendant’s outstanding warrant was not important to the prosecution’s case and is unlikely to have affected the verdict.”

The justices also rejected De La O’s challenges to jury instructions.