
29-year-old Victor Porras had been hospitalized in serious, unstable condition since the stabbing Monday afternoon, and succumbed to his injuries Saturday just after 4 a.m.
Porras’ murder is the first murder in Luna County in 2014.
Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante said the charges filed last week on the two people arrested in connection with the stabbing have been upgraded.
61-year-old Hector Torres has now been charged with second-degree murder and third-degree tampering with evidence, and 23-year-old Renee Michelle Smith’s tampering-with-evidence charge has been upgraded from a fourth-degree felony to a third-degree felony. She also is charged with harboring or aiding a felon.
The investigation revealed that Porras and Torres were in a room at the Butterfield Stage Motel off West Pine arguing over property.
The argument escalated to the point that Torres allegedly stabbed Porras in the chest.
Porras was taken by private vehicle to the hospital and was immediately airlifted to a trauma center in El Paso.