Anthony Malone was a 26-year-old Hispanic man from Las Cruces who worked odd jobs at barbershops and construction sites and checked in with his mother at least once a week. He had celebrated his birthday two weeks before December 20, 2021, and spoke with his mother the day before he died, sounding happy.

On the evening of December 20, 2021, Malone was inside the Red Eye Smoke and Gift Shop on Missouri Avenue. Police say he spent about an hour in the store, behaved in a way that made female clerks uncomfortable, and after a manager showed him a container of watches he grabbed the manager’s shoulders, pushed her, and ran toward the exit. Another customer, Chuko Sandoval, drew a gun, ordered Malone to stop, and shot him in the back three times as Malone ran; Malone died at the scene. Sandoval stayed, was cooperative with detectives, and witnesses reported Sandoval saying why did you do that as he tried to help Malone.

A Doña Ana County grand jury indicted Chuko Sandoval on second-degree murder in May 2022 and the case was moving through the legal system.