San Juan County was plagued by tragedy in 2023 with 13 homicides connected to nine crime-related incidents, including a mass shooting, a double homicide and a police-involved shooting that left a resident dead in a case of mistaken identity.
The wave of deaths continued with four homicides in the first month of the year – three in Farmington and one in the county.
The Farmington Police Department actively investigated five homicides in the past month.
“It is different and certainly alarming. We’ve had five homicides in about a month time period,” said Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe. “Five homicides in a month is a shocking number for us and not something we see.”
The five homicides include two in December 2023, meaning there have been three homicides in Farmington since Jan. 1 that Hebbe calls a “rash of domestic violence.”
San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari agreed with that assessment, pointing out that the county saw two homicides in the past month and both were related to domestic violence.
“We can go months and months without having a homicide, and then we have two back to back. You can’t pattern these things,” Ferrari said, adding the two in the past month were “isolated incidents,” which might “cause fear in the community,” but “these are domestic situations.”
San Juan County saw four homicides in 2023, including a murder-suicide Dec. 19. In that case, Manuel Weahkee, 22, reportedly shot and killed his former girlfriend, Aeriel Gallegos, 19, and then fatally shot himself.
There had been a pattern of domestic abuse between the couple, leading Gallegos to file for a restraining order in August. She was granted a 20-year restraining order and Weahkee was told to turn over his guns, according to court records.
“There was an active restraining order between those two parties. The restraining order not only refrains a person from possessing a firearm or purchasing a firearm in addition to staying away from the person. When you get a restraining order, you are told to not possess a firearm,” Ferrari said, adding the “onus is on the respondent.”
Ferrari said a red flag law was not needed in a situation like this because of the restraining order. “She knew her boyfriend was dangerous,” he said.
The other homicide the Sheriff’s Office began working this year was the Jan. 21 shooting death of Richard Patterson, 67, who reportedly was shot in the head and killed by his wife, Lucia Naranjo, 69. She was arrested at the scene.
Another 2023 homicide with elements of domestic violence came on April 5, when Denise Werito reportedly was stabbed to death by her 23-year-old son, Mateo Yazzie, who had a history of abuse toward his mother.
Yazzie’s defense attorneys claim he is incompetent to stand trial and set a hearing for Feb. 6 in that case.
A double homicide that occurred April 5 did not involve domestic abuse.
Anthony McCants, 26, and Candrick Begay, 31, were working in the Highway 64 Truck and Auto Salvage yard, when they were gunned down execution style in the yard.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate this case, and no suspect has been identified.
The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the May 8 homicide of Brandon Loudhawk, 41, who died April 30 from severe head trauma. His death remains unsolved.
However, Ferrari said his agency has “the second-lowest violent crime solvability rate in the state at 40%”
“Our agency does very good, and obviously there is room for improvement,” he said. “We’re never going to see zero, and everything comes with its set of challenges.”
The most challenging for law enforcement are those “isolated incidents,” Ferrari said. “It does make us wonder why these are happening.”
Hebbe said isolated incidents such as the May 15, 2023 mass shooting on North Dustin Avenue in which three woman were killed by a gunman Beau Wilson, 18.
Farmington police said Wilson went on a shooting rampage in the neighborhood where he lived, randomly discharging more than 190 rounds before police fatally shot him.
Gwendolyn Dean Schofield, 97, and her daughter Melody Ivie, 73, were shot and killed when they pulled over in their car to help, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita, also was killed by gunfire while driving her car past the shooter.
There also was March 23, 2023 shooting of Ariana Rosas, 18, in the Animas Valley Mall parking lot are more rare and “alarming.”
The mall shooting involved Rosas and her boyfriend, Vincent Amato, who reportedly was attempting to get rid of drugs.
“I wanted to get out. I was a drug dealer and I wanted out,” Amato said. “I was trying to get rid of what I had. I was ready to be done.”
Amato told police one of the men he was meeting fired the shot that killed Rosas, but an arrest has not been made.
“It’s up to the DA’s office to file charges, and they don’t feel comfortable doing that,” Hebbe said.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O’Brien said there are “some serious evidentiary problems with this case.”
The DA is concerned there could be problems getting the case past the preliminary hearing stage. “If we don’t get past that point, we may never be able to prosecute that case,” O’Brien said. “There is still a possibility this case will be charged.”
Robert Dotson, 52, was shot to death April 5 by three Farmington Police officers, who mistakenly went to his home on a domestic violence call.
Officers Waylon Wasson, Daniel Estrada and Dylon Goodluck were dispatched to a home at 5308 Valley View Ave. in response to a domestic violence incident. They went to the home across the street at 5305 Valley View Ave., which was the Dotson residence. They arrived shortly before midnight, and Dotson was shot 12 times when he went to the door with a gun, according to a lawsuit brought by the family against the city of Farmington.
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office is investigating the incident and hired a gun expert review the case.
All three Farmington officers have returned to active duty.
New Mexico State Police investigated a March homicide in Kirtland, which involved an argument between a landlord and his tenant.
Danny Casalenuovo, 59, was renting a room from Gary Richard Durham, 81, at a home on County Road 6264. Durham’s son Gary Lee Durham, 59, removed Casalenuovo’s bedroom door and the two men argued.
Gary Lee Durham used a shotgun to shoot and kill Casalenuovo. He was charged with first-degree murder, but entered a plea agreement admitting there was enough evidence to prosecute him for second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Gary Richard Durham faced tampering with evidence and conspiracy charges in connection to the crime, but those charges were dropped as a stipulation of Gary Lee Durham’s plea agreement.
There also was a random Oct. 19 drive-by shooting on Gooding Lane and West Main Street, in which Ethan Thompson, 23, was shot while walking down the street.
Farmington Police used their Real Time Crime Center to identify the car linked to the shooting and arrested Emilio Hilliard, 19, of Aztec, and Bryce Trujillo, 18, of Aztec.
Hilliard reportedly was driving the car and Trujillo was the alleged shooter. Both were charged with second-degree murder, but the charges against Hilliard were dismissed.
The charges were dismissed against Hilliard because prosecutors did not “have the evidence to support Hilliard knew Trujillo was going to do that,” O’Brien said, adding the evidence at this point shows “Trujillo did that on his own.”
December 2023 brought a rash of domestic violence-related homicides, according to Hebbe.
The first was Dec. 13 when Farmington Police were called to a home in the 2800 block of Parque de Oeste in Westland Park. They found Brigitte Johnson, 34, stabbed to death.
Johnson reportedly had a large get-together the night before and police believe someone from that party might be the killer. That person also took Johnson’s car and cellphone. The car was recovered later.
Hebbe said police have identified a “significant person of interest” in Johnson’s death, and they are investigating a “domestic association” with that case.
On Dec. 19, Derek Gagnebin, 36, was found “unresponsive and not breathing” in a room at the Journey Inn, 317 Airport Drive, according to Farmington Police Spokesperson Shanice Gonzales.
Gagnebin was the victim of a stabbing.
Hebbe said there also is a “significant person of interest” in this case, and in both cases his department has “ very active investigations and we feel confident we will be able to identify and charge the responsible person.”
Two weeks later on Jan. 1, 2024, Farmington Police investigated another homicide at a trailer in the Alexander Trailer Park, 1124 Fairgrounds Road.
Brothers Payson Dickie, 27, and Orson Dickie, 25, had lived together for four years. They celebrated New Year’s Eve by “listening to music, playing video games and consuming whiskey,” court records state.
Sometime in the early morning, the brothers fought and Orson reportedly slashed Payson with a box cutter. The cut severed Payson’s temporal artery, causing him to bleed to death.
Orson was charged with second-degree murder.
Less than two weeks passed and police were dealing with another homicide at the Encore Motel, 1900 East Main Street, Room 109.
Farmington Police were called to the room four times beginning at 12:12 a.m. Jan. 10 in reference to Shane Jake John, 25, reportedly hitting his girlfriend Marissa Calabaza. John was asked to leave, but returned and police were called again at 10:41 p.m. Jan. 10, because John reportedly was hit in the head and taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center.
The third time police were called was 1:06 a.m. Jan. 11 in reference to a battery in which John reportedly struck Matthew Martinez, 28, in the head causing a golf ball-size bump on his head, left eye socket and right forearm, court records state.
John was issued a citation for battering Martinez, his girlfriend’s brother, and police left.
The final time police came to the room was at 2:59 p.m. Jan. 11, because Martinez was dead.
John was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for reportedly killing his girlfriend’s brother.
The third homicide of 2024 came on Jan. 15, when Farmington Police found Kelsie Todacheeny, 33, dead inside a home on East 20th Street.
“We are treating it like a homicide,” Hebbe said, adding that the Office of the Medical Examiner has not determined a cause of death. “We’re waiting for their final results. … We believe the circumstances are suspicious so we’re proceeding on that assumption.”
There was a history of alcohol abuse and domestic abuse between Todacheeny and boyfriend Melvin Becenti Jr. However, police are not naming a suspect in this case.
Hebbe did say that in many of these and other instances of homicide, alcohol plays a role and “the underlying role is the domestic relationship.”
“Lately what we’re seeing is the domestic component,” Hebbe said adding that is an “alarming turn.”
The Farmington Police Department has been placing an emphasis on traffic enforcement for the past couple of years in order to see a reduction in crashes and drunken driving. “The second emphasis was gun crimes – when people are committing violent crimes and using a gun, we want to get them in the federal system and out of community,” Hebbe said.
After the uptick in domestic-violence related homicides, Hebbe said the department will shift its focus. “It’s going to be an area of emphasis for us this year.”
Hebbe said there will be training for young officers on how to deal with and investigate instances of domestic violence, while also working with victim’s advocates.
Hebbe also would like to develop “an experimental program – a project we can run with the courts to identify violent offenders,” he said.
“It’s been alarming to us – even with what happened in the county,” Hebbe said. “Domestic violence is going to be an area of emphasis for us this year.”
