The New Mexico House of Representatives has approved a bill to reinstate the death penalty.

The House voted 36 to 30 on Thursday morning after deliberating through the night on whether to restore capital punishment by lethal injection. The death penalty would apply to killers of police, children and corrections officers.

New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009. Governor Susana Martinez is pushing for stricter criminal sentencing in response to the recent killing of two police officers and the August sexual assault, killing and mutilation of 10-year-old Victoria Martens in Albuquerque.

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