A New Mexico prosecutor is charging two Albuquerque police officers with murder for killing a homeless camper last year.

The prosecutor's choice comes at a time when grand juries failed to charge officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, Los Angeles Times reported.

"Unlike Ferguson and unlike in New York City, some recent high-profile cases, we're going to know," Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said at a news conference. "The public's going to have that information, you all will have seen the witnesses, heard the argument and you'll understand hopefully perhaps why the judge made the decision that he or she made."

Documents were filed against officer Dominique Perez and former detective Keith Sandy to proceed in a case with an open charge of murder. Unlike a grand jury, it is up to the judge to determine if there was probable cause in killing the homeless camper.

CNN reported the officers are likely to face first-degree murder charges. They were ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing.

James Boyd, the 38-year-old homeless man who was fatally shot by the officers, spent the night in the hills after a shelter he once stayed in was closed for the winter. Sleeping overnight in the hills is illegal. Helmet and body cameras worn by many city police caught the incident on tape where Boyd was seen with two small camp knives in his hands. Boyd talked with officers for hours and even claimed he was the Department of Defense. When he turned his back, shots were fired. The video showed officers throwing flash-bang grenades at Boyd, while others fired a shotgun and nonlethal beanbag pellets and unleashed a K-9 German shepherd.

Before Monday, no police officers have been charged in the fatal shootings of over a dozen civilians since 2010.

Last April, the U.S. Department of Justice found a pattern of excessive force by officers in the Albuquerque Police Department. Since then, it has been issued a memorandum to monitor the officers.

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