Suspect in attack on NMSU athlete is back in jail after probation violation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — One of three University of New Mexico students who attacked a New Mexico State University basketball player is back behind bars.
Eli-Sha Upshaw took a plea deal in April for plotting to set up NMSU basketball player Mike Peake and taking part in an on-campus attack on him in December 2022.
In June, Judge Britt Baca-Miller granted Upshaw a conditional discharge and sentenced him to 4.5 years of probation. As a part of the discharge, Judge Baca-Miller sent him to live with his mother in Maryland. The judge also ordered him to not break the law and not “buy, sell, own, or be in possession of, at any time, firearms, ammunition or other deadly weapons” among other conditions.
About a month later, in July, authorities in Maryland arrested Upshaw on charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and false imprisonment. According to a criminal complaint, Upshaw pointed a gun at a man as he pulled up to meet about a debit card. Investigators said that caused the man to crash his car and set off a fight with Upshaw who was accused of using his gun to hit the man in the head.
Upshaw was behind bars in Maryland until November when a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy picked him up and brought him back to New Mexico.
A spokesperson for the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office stated Upshaw’s charges in Maryland were dropped as the victim didn’t cooperate.
During an arraignment Wednesday on the alleged probation violation, Upshaw’s attorneys asked for his release. The district attorney’s office opposed that, arguing Upshaw violated the terms of his probation.
According to the DA’s office, the judge is planning to release him if he qualifies for an ankle monitor. For now, he will remain in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center on a no-bond hold. A hearing will take place next Wednesday, Dec. 18, on the matter.
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