Story highlights Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez have been charged in James Boyd's 2014 death

In 2014, video captured police shooting the homeless man in hills above Albuquerque

The shooting is cited in a Justice Department report saying the Albuquerque Police Department had a pattern of excessive force

Albuquerque, New Mexico (CNN) Two Albuquerque, New Mexico, police officers will face first-degree murder charges in last year's shooting of a homeless man in the hills above the city, a prosecutor announced Monday.

Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez were ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing, the date of which has not yet been set, said District Attorney Kari Brandenburg of New Mexico's Second Judicial Circuit.

Sandy and Perez are accused of killing James Boyd in March. The 38-year-old homeless man spent the night before his shooting in a shelter, but when the shelter closed for the winter, Boyd tried to camp in the hills above the city, officials said.

Overnight camping in the hills is illegal.

Helmet and body cameras worn by dozens of city police who converged on the campsite showed Boyd with two small camping knives in his hands.

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