A Las Cruces man convicted of gunning down a Las Cruces Public Schools bus driver as he sat stopped at a red light has been sentenced to 23 years in prison. Pancho Garcia, 35, was sentenced for the second-degree murder of 29-year-old Juan Lujan, who was struck by four bullets and pronounced dead at the scene after Garcia fired several shots into his vehicle at the intersection of Picacho Avenue and 17th Street.
According to KFOX, Third Judicial District Attorney Fernando Macias said the 23-year term ensures that “justice was served and Garcia is held accountable.” Macias, who previously served as chief judge of the Third Judicial District Court and as a New Mexico state senator, according to the Doña Ana County District Attorney's Office, also called the shooting “a senseless act of violence that took the life of a husband, father and valued community member.”
Lujan was employed as a driver by Student Transportation Specialist of New Mexico, the private contractor that operates buses for Las Cruces Public Schools, according to the Las Cruces Bulletin. He was off duty and driving his personal vehicle when he was killed. The contractor publicly offered condolences following his death, per the same account.
A Standoff That Shut Down Part of Picacho Avenue
The shooting happened on June 10, 2025. Las Cruces police officers who arrived on scene administered lifesaving measures to Lujan, but he was pronounced dead there. Witness statements and 911 calls helped investigators identify Garcia as the suspected shooter, according to the same report.
Garcia was tracked to a motel on Picacho Avenue, where he barricaded himself inside a room rather than surrender. The Las Cruces Police Department deployed its SWAT team, and, as Hoodline previously reported, officers evacuated residents living close to the room and told others nearby to shelter in place while negotiators worked to bring the standoff to a peaceful end.
SWAT officers ultimately breached the motel-room window, and Garcia was taken into custody after exiting the room, where he was found inside. He was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center on an open count of murder and held without bond ahead of his formal indictment, according to Organ Mountain News.
From Open Murder Charge to a 23-Year Term
Garcia was found guilty in April 2026, with a jury or court ultimately convicting him of second-degree murder rather than a higher charge. Under New Mexico law, second-degree murder carries a statutory basic sentence of 15 years in prison, a baseline that courts can extend through firearm enhancements or other aggravating factors, according to FindLaw. Garcia's 23-year sentence exceeds that basic term, reflecting such an enhancement in his case.
The motive behind the shooting remains an open question. Public records reviewed for this story do not establish any prior relationship between Garcia and Lujan, who was simply stopped at a red light when the gunfire began.
Case Unfolds Amid Statewide Sentencing Debate
Garcia's sentencing lands in the middle of a broader push at the state level to toughen penalties for violent homicides. In January 2026, New Mexico legislators introduced House Bill 59, which would raise the basic prison sentence for second-degree felonies resulting in death from 18 to 25 years, according to the New Mexico Legislature. Sentencing Commission data cited in that same legislative filing shows 528 people were incarcerated in state prisons for second-degree murder as their primary offense during fiscal year 2024, with a median stay of 12.2 years.
Locally, the case comes as Las Cruces police have touted progress against violent crime. The Las Cruces Police Department reported a 19% reduction in violent crime and a 13% drop in overall crime across the city in 2025 compared to the year before, according to the Las Cruces Bulletin. Officials credited targeted enforcement operations, including a multi-month initiative called Operation Not in Vain that resulted in more than 250 arrests and 1,000 traffic stops aimed at violent-crime hotspots, as reported by KTSM this month.
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