Passenger received $125K in deadly police shooting

Newly released records show the state of New Mexico paid $125,000 to a man who was riding in Jeanette Anaya’s car when a state police officer fired multiple gunshots into the vehicle, killing her after a 2013 car chase through Santa Fe streets sparked by her refusal to pull over for an alleged traffic violation.

Jeremy Munoz, who cowered on the floor of Anaya’s car, was not hit by any of the rounds that Officer Oliver Wilson fired as he ran alongside the vehicle after it struck a wall and she again tried to flee. The state last week released records showing it paid Anaya’s family more than $3 million in 2014 to prevent them from filing a lawsuit. This week, the state Risk Management Division provided records on the payout to Munoz, who had filed a tort claim notice of intent to sue.

In delaying the release of the documents, officials cited a statute that allows payouts by the state Risk Management Division to be kept secret until six months after the latest of four possible dates outlined in the law. In this case, the department determined that meant six months after the statute of limitations had run out in the case — or three years from the date of Anaya’s death on Nov. 7, 2013.

Wilson had been on the job for a few weeks when he fired 16 bullets at Anaya’s vehicle that night. A state police spokeswoman said last week that Wilson remains employed as a patrolman.