FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a man has confessed to killing three people whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning dumpster in Texas, as well as his roommate and girlfriend, saying he felt compelled to sacrifice them. Jason Thornburg was arrested Monday on a capital murder charge in the deaths of the three people whose bodies were found in the dumpster on Sept. 22. Fort Worth police say while questioning the 41-year-old Thornburg about those killings, he also admitted to killing his roommate in Texas and girlfriend in Arizona.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The family of a passenger on a hot air balloon that crashed and killed five people in Albuquerque in June is suing the estate of the deceased pilot and the companies that operated the commercial balloon.

Martin Martinez's family filed the lawsuit last week in state district court. It names Hot Air Balloonatics LLC, Sventato LLC, and the estate of the pilot, Nicholas Meleski. The suit accuses Meleski of piloting the balloon in a reckless manner. A Federal Aviation Administration report shows the pilot had marijuana and cocaine in his blood and urine.

Chaves County, NM - On Monday, September 27, 2021, at around 4:52 p.m., the New Mexico State Police was contacted by the Texas Rangers, who requested assistance in locating a homicide suspect wanted by the Midland, TX Police Department. 

Texas Rangers had reason to believe that the suspect, Kionne Lewis, 29, of Midland, TX was in the Roswell, NM area and armed with a rifle.  New Mexico State Police officers in the Roswell and surrounding areas began searching for Lewis, who was reported to be driving a white 2013 Ford F-150.

  SANTA FE – New Mexico state health officials on Tuesday announced 613 additional COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths. As of today, there are 301 individuals hospitalized in New Mexico for COVID-19. This number may include individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 out of state but are currently hospitalized in New Mexico. This number does not include New Mexicans who tested positive for COVID-19 and may have been transferred to a hospital out of state.

  SANTA FE – On Thursday, September 30, Premier Medical Group (PMG) will begin full-service COVID-19 testing for Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) at their Lincoln Complex. This event, to be held from 9 am to 1 pm, will be primarily for unvaccinated teachers and staff who are required to test weekly. APS estimates that there are approximately 4000 unvaccinated staff, most of whom will likely be tested through the PMG program.

In addition to APS, a PMG testing event will occur at Raices del Saber Xinachtli Community School in the Las Cruces area on Friday, October 8, from 9 am to 1 pm.

  LAS CRUCES, NM – Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office announced Thursday that an additional early voting site in Mesilla is being made available to voters on October 16th. Early in-person voting for the 2021 Regular Local Election (RLE) begins on October 5th at the Doña Ana County Government Center.

“There are elections taking place across the county on November 2nd,” said Clerk Amanda López Askin. “We added Mesilla Town Hall as an early voting location this year because we wanted to make sure that each municipality with races on the ballot had a location for its voters to participate.”

Early voting at the Government Center continues Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until October 29th, and Saturday, October 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Early voting will be closed on Monday, October 11th in observance of Indigenous Peoples Day.

For the past several weeks, Jason Baca has called The University of New Mexico Hospital home.

Two of his teenage sons, his wife and his mother-in-law were diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-August. His wife, Renee Baca, was released from the hospital after a two-week stay. His mother-in-law, Sandra Moya, was admitted and passed away.

The Bacas’ two sons, Jason Lee Baca, 17, and Ayden Baca, 13, are still in the pediatric intensive care unit.