LAS CRUCES – A man convicted in the shooting death of a Las Cruces Public Schools bus driver has been sentenced to 23 years in prison, according to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Thirty-five-year-old Pancho Garcia was convicted in April of second-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Juan Javier Lujan Garces, a husband, father and school bus driver for Las Cruces Public Schools.
Investigators said Garcia was staying at a motel on Picacho Avenue when he left his room and fired several shots into a vehicle that was stopped at a traffic light at Picacho Avenue and 17th Street.
Lujan was struck four times and was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, witness statements and 911 calls helped investigators identify Garcia as the suspected shooter. Officers later located him barricaded inside his motel room.
The Las Cruces Police Department deployed its SWAT team to the motel. Officers eventually breached a window and took Garcia into custody.
Garcia was originally arrested and charged with an open count of murder. Following a jury trial, he was found guilty of second-degree murder in April.
District Attorney Fernando Macias said, “This was a senseless act of violence that took the life of a husband, father and valued member of our community.”
Garcia will serve a 23-year sentence for the killing.
By John Krehbiel – Bravo Mic Communications News – John@bravomic.com
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