Man who killed Alamogordo cop Anthony Ferguson now facing federal firearms charge

Juan Corral, Alamogordo Daily News
·2 min read

Dominic De La O, the Alamogordo man charged with the death of Alamogordo Police Officer Anthony Ferguson, will remain in prison and now faces an additional federal charge related to the weapon he used in the alleged killing.

De La O was charged with the possession of an unregistered weapon. According to a report by the United States Department of Justice, 32-year-old Jonah Apodaca allegedly provided De La O with the modified shotgun used July 15, 2023 to kill Ferguson.

Ferguson was conducting a traffic stop on De La O who attempted to flee, and in the process allegedly shot Ferguson in the face, according to police reports. Ferguson was treated for his wounds at an El Paso hospital but died the next day.

Apodaca appeared in court on Feb. 12, where he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Apodaca also remains in custody with no trial date scheduled.

If De La O is convicted of the charge, he faces up to 10 years in prison. This does not include the state charges De La O faces that all stem from the July 15 shooting and death of Ferguson.

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De La O trial scheduled for November

Judge John P. Sugg of New Mexico's Twelfth Judicial District Court will oversee the De La O jury trial scheduled for Nov. 13.

De La O faces 10 different charges in the State of New Mexico. He is being charged with first degree murder, tampering with evidence, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, two counts of aggravated assault of a deadly weapon, two counts of resisting an officer, two counts of criminal trespassing, and one count of improper equipment - driving a vehicle without headlights.

First degree murder is a capital felony, tampering with evidence is a third-degree felony and several other charges are considered fourth-degree felonies. He faces several petty misdemeanors amongst the 10 charges as well.

If De La O is convicted of first-degree murder he may be sentenced to life in prison.

Following the De La O case? Read more here:

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Federal firearm charge levied against man who killed Alamogordo cop