Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or having thoughts of suicide, you are not alone — and help is always available. Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to connect with a trained counselor, or chat online at 988lifeline.org. Whether you’re seeking support for yourself or someone you care about, please know that it’s never too late to reach out. You deserve help. You deserve hope. Someone is ready to listen.
By Nakayla McClelland
Albuquerque Journal
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — In April 2025, one month after returning home from serving in the Army in Iraq , Jacob Garcia called a 911 dispatcher with the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority and pleaded for help, saying he had a gun and planned to kill himself.
Moments later, Garcia hung up after telling the dispatcher to “get someone there now.”
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Dispatchers classified the call as a “Priority High Suicidal Subject,” and two Las Cruces police officers — Hector Lopez and David Udero — were dispatched to the 28-year-old’s home for a welfare check.
Instead of making contact with Garcia, the officers allegedly told dispatchers to cancel responding fire and ambulance units, turned off their body cameras and “idled in the parking lot” before leaving, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in 3rd Judicial District Court in Doña Ana County.
“For roughly the next forty minutes, with a young man known to be armed and actively suicidal somewhere inside Apartment 927, not a single first responder attempted to reach him,” the lawsuit filed Monday states. “Help was minutes away, but it never arrived.”
By the time emergency responders arrived at the home nearly an hour later, Garcia had died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The lawsuit — filed against the city of Las Cruces , officers Lopez and Udero, and the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority — alleges Garcia’s death resulted from negligence and a failure to properly respond to his mental health crisis.
Garcia’s family did not respond to requests for comment.
In an online obituary, his family wrote that he touched many lives through his military service and otherwise.
“Jacob will be remembered for his kind heart, sense of humor, creativity, loyalty, passion for helping others,” the obituary states. " May Jacob be remembered always for the light he brought into the world.”
According to the lawsuit, Lopez and Udero never approached the home, knocked on the door or made contact with Garcia before telling emergency responders not to respond and leaving the scene.
“Had the officers done the most basic part of their job … (Garcia) could have been found, disarmed and saved,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, the officers abandoned the scene and affirmatively stripped it of the very fire and medical resources that had been sent to help.”
The Las Cruces Police Department declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
Marisa Ong, an attorney representing Garcia’s family, said first responders created an “enhanced danger” by failing to ensure his safety.
“Our allegation is not just that they failed to act, it’s that they abandoned the call and removed the very resources that were on their way to save (Garcia),” she said. “We believe that, had the officers gone to the door and bothered to knock, there’s a very good chance that (Garcia) would still be alive today, and that in and of itself is devastating.”
The lawsuit also alleges MVRDA classified Garcia’s call as high priority but failed to treat it accordingly.
“The complaint further alleges that MVRDA executed the officers’ stand-down order without question and failed to re-dispatch or escalate the call even after receiving a second, independent report of Jacob’s suicidal intent approximately 45 minutes later,” according to a Tuesday news release from Singleton Schreiber , the law firm representing Garcia’s family.
The lawsuit alleges MVRDA attempted one callback after Garcia hung up, but it went to voicemail. Records show there was no documented escalation or additional attempts to contact Garcia.
MVRDA declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
It is unclear what time the officers arrived at Garcia’s home on April 17 , though the lawsuit states Lopez’s body camera began recording at 1:47 p.m. At one point, Lopez allegedly said, “I’m gonna go off,” before turning off the camera.
The footage ended at 1:49 p.m., according to the lawsuit. It is unknown when the officers left.
Text messages obtained from Garcia’s phone show he remained in contact with his brother until 2:03 p.m., according to the lawsuit. Five minutes later, Garcia posted messages online indicating he intended to harm himself.
At 2:13 p.m., one of Garcia’s friends called dispatchers to report a social media post that appeared to indicate Garcia was suicidal. The lawsuit alleges that despite the second report, no additional response was sent to Garcia or his home.
It wasn’t until Garcia’s brother arrived at the home at 2:26 p.m. and found him dead from a gunshot wound to the chest that EMS crews arrived, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and statutory damages.
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