Man involved in deadly attack on NMSU basketball player avoids prison

A former University of New Mexico student involved in an attack on a New Mexico State University basketball player was freed by a judge Wednesday after serving two months in custody.

Eli-Sha Upshaw, 21, was sentenced in June to 4½ years of supervised probation for his role in the attack on former NMSU basketball player Mike Peake that led to the shooting death of a UNM student.

Just weeks after his conviction, Upshaw was arrested in his hometown of Gathersburg, Maryland, for assault and other charges for allegedly pulling a gun and striking a man, court records show.

Following his July 20 arrest in Maryland, Bernalillo County prosecutors asked an Albuquerque judge to revoke Upshaw’s probation and order him to serve the remaining four years of his sentence in prison.

Second Judicial District Judge Angela Jewell on Wednesday ordered Upshaw released from custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center and ordered him to follow conditions of his probation, court records show.

Upshaw pleaded guilty in April to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy for his role in a fatal confrontation on the UNM campus.

Former Aggie player Peake shot and killed a UNM student, Brandon Travis, 19, after Peake was lured to the UNM campus by a female student, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Police said Travis shot Peake in the leg and Peake returned fire, killing Travis during the Nov. 19, 2022, attack. No charges were filed against Peake after prosecutors determined that he had acted in self-defense.

Police said Travis and Upshaw were among a group of UNM freshmen who conspired to lure Peake to the UNM campus and attack him in revenge for a beating during a fight at the Lobos-Aggies football game in Las Cruces earlier that fall.

The female student, Mya Hill, who was 17 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty in August to aggravated battery and was sentenced to probation until age 21, the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said.

Jonathan Smith, 21, pleaded guilty in January 2023 to aggravated battery and tampering with evidence for his role in the plan, court records show.

Upshaw was charged in Maryland in July with first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, possession of a handgun and false imprisonment, court records show.