Two men sentenced for roles in 2022 attack of Aggie basketball player

A judge on Tuesday sentenced two men to terms of probation for their roles in a deadly 2022 attack on a New Mexico State University basketball player.

Mike Peake shot and killed a University of New Mexico student, Brandon Travis, 19, after Peake was lured to the UNM campus in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2022, 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 attack.

Judge Britt Baca sentenced both men Tuesday in 2nd Judicial District Court for what prosecutors described as their participation in the plan.

Eli-Sha Upshaw, 21, was sentenced to 4½ years of supervised probation after pleading guilty in April to aggravated battery and conspiracy.

Jonathan Smith, 21, was sentenced to three years of supervised probation. He pleaded guilty in January 2023 to aggravated battery and tampering with evidence.

The sentencings appear to resolve all remaining criminal cases in the attack. No charges were filed against Peake after prosecutors determined that he had acted in self-defense.

Prosecutors said Travis, Smith and Upshaw were among a group of UNM freshmen who hatched a plan to lure Peake to the UNM campus in revenge for a beating during a fight at the Lobos-Aggies football game in Las Cruces earlier that fall.

Peake and the rest of the Aggie men’s basketball team were staying at a hotel in Albuquerque for the annual Lobo-Aggie rivalry game, which had been scheduled for the date of the shooting.

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.