Year in review: No shortage of crime in year 2020

CLOVIS — While COVID-19 may have limited the trials to some extent, there was no shortage of crime in 2020.

Many court cases scheduled for 2020 were pushed to 2021 due to a pause on new jury trials as COVID-19 infection worsened around the state.

A review of The News coverage of crime in the area includes the following reports:

• A jury trial is scheduled in August for two men accused in the slaying of a Muleshoe woman in Roosevelt County.

Court records show Jaime Edgmon, 41, was killed in the morning hours of Oct. 13 after she may have witnessed a shooting near 10th and Pile streets in Clovis.

Keith Cordova, 23, and Francisco Bustamante, 25, are scheduled to be tried together in a Aug. 15-27 trial setting.

• A trial for a Lubbock man accused of second-degree murder has been rescheduled for April 27-29.

Steven Hogues, 35, is accused of shooting William Romero of Clovis on Nov. 22, 2019, during an argument.

The trial was originally set for November.

• Another man accused in a November 2019 shooting is scheduled for a January trial.

Johnny Ray Vigil, 27, is accused of shooting Jahmall Burge.

• Two are scheduled to go on trial for an alleged drug deal turned robbery in September in Roosevelt County, and another two trials are still to be determined or announced.

The district attorney’s office has not announced charges against a juvenile male who is accused of shooting Brady Vallejos, 19, of Dexter. Vellejos died Sept. 29 at University Medical Center in Lubbock, 18 days after he was shot.

A trial date is still pending for Diego Morales, 19, of Portales. He faces charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, tampering, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is being held without bond after failing to comply with house arrest conditions.

Jonathan Mendez, 19, of Portales is scheduled to go on trial May 24-28 on charges of armed robbery, aggravated burglary (two counts), shooting at or from a vehicle, tampering, shooting at dwelling, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Jean Pierre Brodie, 23, of Roswell, faces a March 10 jury trial for charges of distribution of a controlled substance.

Vallejos’ family members do not believe Brady was knowingly involved in any drug deal, and gave Brodie a ride from Roswell only after he’d paid for a tank of gas and an oil change.

• No charges have been announced in connection to the Nov. 29 shooting death of Tchicaya Williams, 38, at the Sedona Village apartments.

Family members have told The News it is their understanding Williams was not the intended target of shots that came outside the apartment complex.

• A man shot by Sheriff Malin Parker during a low-speed chase in 2018 was sentenced to a year of house arrest in November, followed by two years of probation.

James McFarlin of Lake Havasu, Arizona, pleaded no contest to unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer.

According to court records, McFarlin used a tractor to flip over the vehicle of his estranged wife and was shot after refusing deputy orders to stop and an attempt to shoot out the tires didn’t stop the tractor.

The sentence recognized the medical conditions for McFarlin, who continues to receive rehab treatment for injuries suffered in the incident.

• A former Clovis Police Department officer received 364 days in jail, suspended in favor of supervised probation, after he was convicted of stealing evidence from an arrest.

Francisco Hernandez, 34, was found guilty by a Curry County jury of taking $166 from a suspect and not logging it into evidence. An internal investigation concluded $144 of the money was in Hernandez’ desk, which Hernandez said was money he was saving for Christmas.

• A settlement was reached in a civil suit against the family of Nathaniel Jouett, who killed two people and injured four others during an August 2017 shooting at the Clovis-Carver Public Library.

In June, Fifth Judicial Judge Jane Shuler Gray issued a default judgment for siblings Alexis and Noah Molina, who were injured in the Aug. 28, 2017, shooting that claimed the lives of librarians Kristina Carter and Wanda Walters.

The confidential structured settlement was approved by district court on Dec. 11.

Nathaniel Jouett pleaded guilty to 30 charges in connection to the shooting, and is serving a pair of concurrent life sentences — defined in New Mexico as 30 years before the possibility of parole — to be followed by another 40 years in prison.

• A pair of former daycare owners were released from jail by the New Mexico Supreme Court while they appeal their 2019 conviction of reckless child abuse.

Sandi Taylor and Mary Taylor, former owners of the Taylor Tots daycare in Portales, were sentenced to 30 and 36 years, respectively, in connection to the death of 22-month-old Maliyah Jones and severe injuries to then 23-month-old Aubri Loya after the two were left in a hot car for approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes on July 25, 2017.

The 3-1 court decision indicated the Taylors were not a flight risk and not dangerous to the general public, and should be subject to the same release conditions during the appeal process than they faced and adhered to during the criminal trial.

A filing on behalf of the Taylors contends the district court did not allow testimony from a detective who called the matter a “tragic accident” and that jury instructions did not provide any distinguishment between reckless disregard and accidental conduct.

• A former Roosevelt County Sheriff’s deputy is facing a Feb. 15 trial on charges of receiving stolen property.

Christopher McCasland, 34, was indicted by a Roosevelt County grand jury in August on allegations he possessed a stolen television and chain saw.

Roosevelt County Sheriff Parker later contended McCasland was a suspect in the disappearance of more than $8,000 in an evidence locker in 2019. No charges have been filed in connection to the theft, following a New Mexico State Police investigation that couldn’t rule out anybody as a suspect.

• Three people, including a former superintendent at Dora Schools, are scheduled to go on trial for a 2016 case of misuse of funds.

The July indictments followed a 2017 state auditor report indicating more than $100,000 in potentially mismanaged funds between 2013 and 2016, including $41,000 in janitorial supplies and $37,000 in recyclables redeemed by an employee.

Steve Butler, 53, faces charges that include fraud, racketeering, forgery and embezzlement in a May 24-28 trial setting.

Amy Butler, 53, faces a June 17 trial for conspiracy to commit embezzlement.

Former Superintendent Steve Barron faces a June 17 trial on a charge of making or permitting a false public voucher. Barron attorney Dan Lindsey contends Barron simply did not get enough bids for a contract that went through the school board and a district auditor, and is being charged inappropriately for a procurement code mistake.

• A two-week trial setting remains in place in April for a Roosevelt County man accused of defrauding the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Organization while he led the organization for three years.

Greg Smith, 57, of Elida, is alleged to have overcharged and undercompensated pageant contestants and used the profits to further his ranching business. He faces 18 charges including fraud, embezzlement, racketeering and issuing a worthless check.

The case is scheduled for April 19-30 in Judge Matt Chandler’s court in Clovis.

• A former Parmer County deputy in training was sentenced in June to life in federal prison for a November 2019 conviction for transporting minors with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Davin Waters was first investigated when a member of his church in Texico reported sexual abuse of a child. He had been with the sheriff’s office for less than two months before he was terminated, and Sheriff Randy Geries told The News the charges did not stem from anything related to Waters’ brief time with the office.

• The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in June a Portales man’s conviction for fleeing law enforcement was correctly overturned because the law enforcement vehicle in question wasn’t adequately marked.

Roy Montano was convicted in 2013, and argued the sport utility vehicle that chased him down bore no decals, insignia or lettering to indicate they were law enforcement vehicles. The charge requires pursuit by a “uniformed law enforcement officer in an appropriately marked law enforcement vehicle.”

Following Montano’s 2017 death, which was unrelated to the charge, a substitute defendant was appointed by the court to keep the appeal going, with the court contending the final ruling was in the best interest of society.

• A Portales man was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and armed robbery.

Korbin Baldridge and Manuel Silva were charged with the April 7, 2019, shooting death of Adam Holts. The investigation revealed Silva, who committed suicide two months later, pulled the trigger.

• A Roosevelt County grand jury declined to indict a man for a fatal shooting at a July 2019 house party, ruling Devin Guidry acted in self defense.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at a home July 27 and found Derek Garcia, 24, died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Guidry voluntarily spoke with deputies, and said he acted in self-defense after Garcia charged at him with a knife.

• The former director of the Curry Resident Senior Meals Association was sentenced to seven years in jail for embezzlement of more than $20,000 from the program in 2018.

Cherisse Perez, 36, received three years for the embezzlement charge and a four-year enhancement for two prior felony convictions in a 10-year window.