Dead man’s sister explores suing police
Lawyers examining wrongful death claim against Santa Fe
SANTA FE — The sister of a Santa Fe man who was shot and killed by Santa Fe police earlier this month has filed a petition to be his personal representative in a potential wrongful death lawsuit.
Anthony Benavidez, 24, died July 19 after officers Jeremy Bisagna and Luke Wakefield fired a combined 17 shots — all but one from Bisagna — into Benavidez’s apartment at the Tuscany at St. Francis complex near Siringo Road and St. Francis Drive. Benavidez was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
He had broken into an apartment he’d been evicted from and threw what have been described as homemade explosives that didn’t blow up during a SWAT standoff.
Bisagna fired 16 shots from his handgun about 13 seconds after Sgt. Nick Wood broke out an apartment window and officers started shouting commands for Benavidez to come out with his hands up. Although the shooting is shown on lapel camera video from other officers, Bisagna’s lapel camera — which possibly could provide a perspective of Benavidez inside the apartment — had been turned off minutes before the shooting. Santa Fe Police Department Chief Patrick Gallagher said the department will investigate why Bisagna’s camera didn’t capture the shooting.
Roseanne Lopez, Benavidez’s sister, filed a petition Friday in Santa Fe District Court via the Kennedy Kennedy & Ives law firm in Albuquerque to be personal representative for Benavidez’s estate to pursue a wrongful death claim. Attorney Shannon Kennedy said her firm is going to look into why Bisagna’s lapel camera wasn’t on and will investigate what kind of treatment Benavidez — who had been receiving services from social workers — got at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center the day before his death.
She said it could take months before an actual wrongful death complaint is filed and that there are no specific defendants right now. “We’re just doing our due diligence,” Kennedy said.
Benavidez had been evicted from his apartment by Santa Fe County deputies the day before the shooting and was taken to the hospital for an evaluation. He was released and later broke into the apartment through a window. “I have many questions about the decedent’s mental health and the services he received,” Kennedy said. “He should have been released to a facility. Clearly he was in a mental health crisis.”
Benavidez stabbed and wounded a social worker from the Santa Fe Community Guidance Center, who was there to help get him out of the apartment, the morning he was killed. Benavidez then barricaded himself in the apartment and ignored police commands to come outside.
SWAT officers moved in to arrest Benavidez after he had thrown two handmade explosives, one described as a cylinder on fire or a mixture of fireworks and a propane container and another said to be a bottle of ammonia.