A Dulce woman was sentenced last week to serve five years in federal prison on a voluntary manslaughter charge.

Laurice Montoya, 38, was charged March 28, 2022, after a preliminary and detention hearing in Albuquerque. She pleaded guilty to the charge May 4, 2023.

Montoya admitted that on Jan. 19, 2022, she got into an argument with a man at her home on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in Dulce.

“During the argument, Montoya hit (the man) on the head two times with a snow shovel, causing him to fall and have a seizure,” according to court records.

Montoya remained with the man for four hours, but for a reason not stated, she was unable to call for help, until “a friend showed up at the residence and called 911,” court records stated.

Emergency Medical Services of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe took the man to San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, where he died from his injuries.

Medical records showed the man suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured rib, two cuts on his scalp and severe bruising on his upper body, according to court documents.

The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated Montoya’s case with assistance from the Jicarilla Apache Police and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.

Upon her release from prison, Montoya will be subject to three years of supervised release.