Portales man jailed in stabbing

PORTALES - A Portales man is in jail, accused of fatally stabbing his cousin Saturday night.

Jesse Lujan, 33, is in the Roosevelt County Detention Center with a first-degree murder charge in the death of Roy Courtney Lujan, 41. Jesse Lujan also faces two charges of tampering with evidence for allegedly discarding the knife used in the stabbing and clothing he was wearing at the time of the attack.

The suspect made his first appearance Monday afternoon in Roosevelt County Magistrate Court. He is being held without bond pending a pretrial detention hearing in district court, where his charges were transferred.

His case was assigned to the public defender's office, but court records had no specific attorney assigned to the case.

Deputy District Attorney Quentin Ray told The News it was his understanding Roy Courtney was visiting his cousin, aunt and uncle when the incident occurred.

According to an affidavit filed Monday in the magistrate court:

n Portales police responded to an apartment in the 1100 block of West Fir at 9:56 p.m. and discovered Roy Courtney Lujan outside of the apartment front door with an apparent chest wound. He was transported to Roosevelt General Hospital, where he died from six stab wounds - including one to his heart.

n The suspect's mother told investigators that Jesse said Roy was making fun of him, and told his mom to tell Roy to "get ... out of here or I am going to kill him."

She said Jesse then went outside to where Roy Courtney was, attacked him as he was sitting in a chair and took off. The suspect's father said Jesse started running south across the street after attacking Roy Courtney.

n Law enforcement found a steak knife they believed to be the weapon used in the stabbing near the apartment, and located Jesse on the 500 block of Avenue K just south of the apartment complex.