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The U.S. Department of Justice wants to end the life of a 39-year-old accused of killing an elderly man outside a Santa Fe electronics store and stealing his vehicle last year.

Prosecutors on Wednesday filed an intent to seek the death penalty in the case against Zachary Babitz in the August 2024 death of 83-year-old Gordon Wilson.

Babitz, of Edgewood, is federally charged with carjacking resulting in death and using a firearm in a crime of violence and causing death, among other felonies.

It is the second case in New Mexico in which the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office has sought the death penalty since the Trump administration lifted the ban on federal executions in February. The last time federal prosecutors in the state sought the death penalty was in 2018.

鈥淎ttorney General (Pam) Bondi has authorized and directed the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico to pursue capital punishment in this case,鈥� the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of New Mexico said in a news release sent Friday.

Babitz鈥檚 attorney did not respond to a call seeking comment, and the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office did not respond to questions.

The death of Wilson came amid an alleged crime spree by Babitz that included the robbery of an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 bank and an Arby鈥檚 in Las Cruces. It was Las Cruces police who arrested Babitz days after Wilson鈥檚 death and he was booked into the Do帽a Ana County Detention Center.

Babitz is in federal custody. His alleged accomplice, Jessie Dominguez, is charged with aiding and abetting.

On Aug. 6, 2024, Wilson pulled his Jeep Cherokee into the parking lot of a Best Buy store in Santa Fe, according to court records. Babitz approached Wilson and shot him during a scuffle.

Police said Babitz drove off in Wilson鈥檚 Jeep and officers found it abandoned outside an apartment in sa国际传媒官网网页入口. Officers found Babitz鈥檚 shoes and a bullet believed to have been left by him at the apartment, but he had fled.

Days later, Babitz and Dominguez showed up to an Arby鈥檚 in Las Cruces and held the cashier at gunpoint, according to police. The pair then carjacked a woman outside and crashed the vehicle.

Las Cruces police arrested Babitz near the crash scene, and he was booked into the Do帽a Ana County jail.

In January, Babitz filed a civil complaint in 1st Judicial District Court against the Keefe Commissary Network, which provides inmate commissary at the facility. In the complaint, Babitz and an inmate serving a life sentence alleged price gouging by the company.

鈥淔or example, a Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup, on average sold to non-incarcerated between 20-25 (cents), is priced at $1.25 at (the jail),鈥� according to the complaint, which included screenshots of Ramen sold at Walmart.

Babitz and the other plaintiff in the case asked a judge to order an injunction to order Keefe to 鈥渓ower canteen prices to something comparable to prices offered to non-incarcerated.鈥�

That case, like the one in which prosecutors seek the death penalty, has been moved to federal court.