The Tri-City Record has learned through repeated public records requests to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and county legal department that a woman was killed Dec. 18 in an apparent murder-suicide.
Aeriel Marina Gallegos, 19, reportedly was shot and killed by former boyfriend Manuel Weahkee, 22. She had requested a restraining order against him in August, according to court records.
Reports also showed that the suspect had a history of violence, but that the charges had been dismissed.
Details surrounding the murder-suicide came to light after a vague entry on a crime log and a series of denials by the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office did not issue a news release concerning the crime, but it was listed as a “shooting” in the Dec. 19 sheriff’s daily incident log.
The Tri-City Record made a Freedom of Information Act request Dec. 19 for the report and received a redacted copy at 9:17 a.m. Dec. 28.
The redacted copy listed the crime as a second-degree murder, but had so much information redacted that it was difficult to determine what had happened. Because the report was redacted, the victim’s name and age were unavailable, as were the age and name of the person allegedly responsible for her death.
San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari confirmed that the case was a “murder-suicide,” but he said the names and other identifying information would not be released so that he would not further “victimize” the families.
The Tri-City Record contacted an official from the Foundation for Open Government, who stated the information that the Tri-City Record requested qualified as public information under the Freedom of Information Act and could be released.
The Tri-City Record contacted San Juan County Attorney Joseph Sawyer at 1:32 p.m. He stated he would look into the matter and speak with the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office regarding release of records and the Freedom of Information Act.
After being informed that a representative from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said that information was considered public information, Ferrari again refused to release the name and ages of the woman and man.
The Tri-City Record received a phone call at 3:02 p.m. from Sheriff’s Lt. Cory Tanner, who stated the office received a call from the county attorney’s office and that an unredacted copy of the report would be released before the close of business Thursday, Dec. 28.
At 4:33 p.m., the report was released, and it provided details into the two shootings – a woman had been killed by her former boyfriend, who then shot himself.
Reports also showed that the suspect had a history of violence, but that all charges had been dismissed.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the incident by a phone call from Sylvia Weahkee, who “reported that her son told her he shot Aeriel Gallegos” at a home on County Road 5457 “before shooting himself,” the report states.
Deputies responded to Weahkee’s home on County Road 4800, as well as to the location on County Road 5457. Ferrari confirmed that deputies responded to “two separate locations.”
Weahkee was found at 2:41 a.m. at the home on County Road 4800. He reportedly shot himself.
Weahkee reportedly had suicidal ideations dating to April 2020, when San Juan County Sheriff’s deputies were called to his home at 8:52 p.m. April 19, 2020, because he had reportedly “cut himself with a knife and was barricaded in his room,” court records state.
He was charged with battery on a peace officer in connection to that incident, but the charges were dismissed.
Then, on July 31, 2021, deputies were called to the home on County Road 4800, because Weahkee reportedly got into a “physical altercation” with his brother and nephew after he became angry for his brother making a comment about “Manuel being suicidal in the past,” according to the statement of probable cause.
Manuel was charged with aggravated battery, but the charges were dismissed.
Gallegos was found at 2:52 a.m. in an RV on the north side of a property on County Road 5457. When deputies entered the RV bedroom, Gallegos was found “lying face-down in the bed with a gunshot wound to her head.” She “was deceased due to the injury,” the report states.
In a 15-page petition for order of protection from domestic abuse, Gallegos stated “Manuel Weahkee has physically assaulted myself Aeriel Gallegos, threatened to kill myself, my child, my family members and friends.”
In the petition, Gallegos outlined multiple physical attacks reportedly made against her by Weahkee beginning in August 2021. She stated Weahkee “grabbed me by my hair … dragged me.” He reportedly “bit” her, “choked” her and “stabbed his dog to death with a kitchen knife.”
She further stated that he “was on a mission to kill me” in the petition.
Gallegos also stated that Weahkee reportedly told her, “I want you to have a miscarriage,” in May 2023, when she was pregnant with their daughter.
In the murder-suicide report, Sylvia Weahkee told authorities, “Aeriel and Manuel have a child together.”
The Tri-City Record asked Ferrari about the status of the child. He confirmed “the child is fine” and was not injured in the murder-suicide.
Ferrari also said there would be “no further investigation” into the incident.
