Police body camera footage allegedly showing an Artesia teenager confessing to suffocating her newborn cannot be used as evidence in the girl’s murder trial.
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday, July 30, unanimously affirmed a 2024 district court ruling that the video was inadmissible. The criminal case now will proceed in Fifth Judicial District Court.
Alexee Trevizo, 22, was arrested May 10, 2023, and charged with first-degree murder after police determined that the then-19-year-old gave birth to a baby boy in a bathroom at Artesia General Hospital in January of that year and placed the newborn in a trash can where he suffocated.
Key to the prosecution’s case was footage taken via a body camera worn by an Artesia police officer in Trevizo’s hospital room moments after the baby’s remains were found.
The video shows Trevizo allegedly confessing to the homicide, saying to a doctor, “I’m sorry … it came out of me … I didn’t know what to do,” in response to medical staff telling her that her son was found dead.
Now-retired Fifth Judicial District Judge Jane Shuler Gray ruled in May 2024 that the alleged confession was inadmissible. Shuler Gray said using the footage as evidence would violate Trevizo’s right against self-incrimination and her legal guarantee of doctor-patient confidentiality.
That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court by Fifth Judicial District Attorney Dianna Luce in July 2024. During oral arguments in September 2025, Michael Thomas, deputy district attorney for the New Mexico Department of Justice, asked the court to overturn Shuler Gray’s decision and allow the criminal case to proceed with the video as evidence.
He argued the video was “critical to a proper understanding of the issues” of the case and “undercuts” several of the defense’s assertions that Trevizo was unaware and improperly informed of the risk to the child.
But the five justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court agreed with Shuler Gray, resolving that the footage could not be used in the criminal prosecution and dismissing the prosecution’s argument that Trevizo waived her doctor-patient privilege by discussing the matter when police were present.
Dr. Heather Vaskas invited police into the room at Artesia General before telling Trevizo of the baby’s death, the Supreme Court ruled, meaning Trevizo was not given the opportunity to waive her privilege against self-incrimination.
Justices also found that Trevizo, having sought medical attention, lacked the “mental and physical capacity” to waive her privilege after arriving at the hospital in “excruciating pain.”
The justices ruled that Vaskas “ambushed” Trevizo by inviting police into her hospital room “without warning.”
The court’s opinion, written by Justice Michael Vigil, read in part: “Defendant was not given the opportunity to exclude anyone from the room before Dr. Vaskas discussed her condition in the presence of others. Considering this sudden unauthorized disclosure, coupled with Defendant’s compromised medical condition, under the totality of the circumstances, we cannot conclude that Defendant’s waiver of her physician-patient privilege was voluntary.”
District Attorney Luce said the Supreme Court’s ruling was “disappointing” but that she believed the prosecution still had a strong case against Trevizo.
She said that while Trevizo’s statements could no longer be presented as evidence, the prosecution intended to use security footage from the hospital showing that Trevizo was the only person to enter the hospital bathroom during the period of time when the baby died there.
Luce declined to discuss the remaining evidence in the case.
“Protecting the lives of children is a priority of this office,” she said. “We do have a strong case. (The Supreme Court decision) is not the outcome we wanted, but we respect the court’s decision and will proceed with the trial.”
Defense Attorney Gary Mitchell, who filed the original motion to suppress the video statements on July 24, 2023, applauded the Supreme Court’s decision and argued Trevizo’s rights were violated when police were invited into her room and when the video footage was shared publicly by law enforcement.
“When you go to the doctor, it can’t be broadcast for everyone to see,” Mitchell said. “They really tried to hurt this young woman. Hopefully now the state will dismiss the case, and she (Trevizo) can move on with her life.”
Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
