Defendant's twin brother refuses plea deal, will stand trial in August for killing Garrett Joe.

Gamez originally was charged with an open count of murder and two counts of tampering with evidence in connection with the 22-year-old student's death, but prosecutors acknowledged that there was no medical evidence that Rafael Gamez's actions led to Joe's death or that he knew his twin brother Jose had a knife or would use the knife, El Defensor Chieftain said.

A similar plea deal was offered to Jose Gamez, who was accused of stabbing Joe during an altercation the three Gamez brothers had with Joe at Socorro's Clarke Field, but Jose Gamez refused and will go to trial on Aug. 3 on an open count of murder and two evidence-tampering counts, the paper reported.

Older brother Manuel Gamez Jr., 20, pleaded guilty in February to aggravated battery and tampering with evidence in connection with Joe's death, while his mother, 50-year-old Jennie Gamez, pleaded guilty to a single count of tampering with evidence, El Defensor Chieftain said.

Sentencing for Manuel Gamez and Jennie Gamez hadn't been scheduled as of late last week.

8:55am 2/26/09 -- Mother, Son Enter Pleas in Tech Student's Death: Woman's twin sons still face murder charges in death of Garrett Joe last June.

Jennie Gamez, 50, of Polvadera, and her son, 20-year-old Manuel Gamez Jr. of Socorro, entered guilty pleas last week for their roles in the June 5, 2008 death of New Mexico Tech engineering student Garrett Joe, 22, of Crownpoint, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

Gamez' twin sons, Rafael and Jose Gamez, still face an open count of murder and two third-degree tampering with evidence charges in connection with the beating and fatal stabbing of Joe at Socorro's Clarke Field and are expected to go to trial in August, El Defensor Chieftain said.

Jose Gamez is being held on a $900,000 bond and his twin brother, Rafael, on a $500,000 bond, according to the paper.

Testimony during a Magistrate Court hearing revealed that the three Gamez brothers beat Joe and left the park, then Manuel Gamez Jr. returned with his brother Rafael and a juvenile to retrieve a pair of glasses, and Rafael allegedly said he'd found Joe and proceeded to hit him with a wrench, El Defensor Chieftain said.

Jennie Gamez, who was not with her sons during the incident, was charged with attempting to dispose of her sons' bloodstained clothing, the paper reported.

At last week's plea hearing, Jennie Gamez pleaded guilty to one felony count of tampering with evidence after prosecutors dropped a second tampering count and one count of conspiracy, El Defensor Chieftain said.

Assistant District Attorney Stacey Ward told the paper that Jennie Gamez' tampering charge was reduced from a third- to a fourth-degree felony because "she was in no position to know that someone had died."

Manuel Gamez Jr. pleaded guilty earlier in the week to aggravated battery and third-degree tampering with evidence, the paper reported.

Sentencing will take place after the resolution of the twin brothers' murder case, according to El Defensor Chieftain.

Bernice Etsitty of Crownpoint, Joe's mother, said in a letter to the court and to El Defensor Chieftain last week, that she was unhappy with the plea agreement and with the criminal justice system.

"Our state's laws are so weak that they are causing even greater harm to the physical and emotional well-being of those of us who (have) suffered an inconceivable loss," Etsitty wrote. "I will never see my son graduating from New Mexico Tech, fulfilling his dream of becoming a civil engineer or building a skate park for others who loved the sport as much as he did."

9:25am 6/26/08 -- Twins Bound Over in Tech Student's Death: Charges reduced against third brother, mother in June 5 stabbing death at Socorro park.

Rafael Gamez and Jose Gamez, 18-year-old twin brothers from Socorro, have been bound over for trial on an open count of murder and two counts of felony tampering with evidence in the June 5 stabbing death of a New Mexico Tech student at Socorro's Clarke Field, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

Four people, including the twins' older brother, 19-year-old Manuel Gamez, and their mother, 50-year-old Jennie Gamez, were arrested following the death of 22-year-old Garrett Joe, a Tech engineering student from Crownpoint, El Defensor Chieftain said.

But a charge of murder was dropped against Manuel Gamez, who was bound over at the preliminary hearing last Friday on charges of felony aggravated battery and felony tampering with evidence, the paper reported.

Charges of conspiracy to commit murder and a second charge of felony tampering with evidence also were dismissed as part of a plea agreement with the older brother, who agreed to testify truthfully at all stages of court proceedings against his brothers, according to El Defensor Chieftain. 

A charge of conspiracy against Jennie Gamez also was dismissed, leaving her to face a single felony count of tampering with evidence, the paper said.

Attorneys defending the twin brothers -- Lee Deschamps for Jose Gamez and Jeff Buckles for Rafael Gamez -- asked Magistrate Jim Naranjo at Friday's preliminary hearing to bind the brothers over only on charges of manslaughter and tampering with evidence, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

The attorneys told Naranjo the brothers were only defending themselves from an unprovoked attack by Joe and that the twins were only trying to help their brother Manuel defend himself while Joe was on top of him, the paper said.

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Burwell said, however, that Joe only used his skateboard to defend himself when he found himself outnumbered by the brothers, El Defensor Chieftain said. 

10:45am 6/12/08 -- Stabbing Victim Laid to Rest: Slain N.M. Tech engineering student buried outside mother's home in rural San Juan County.

A burial service for Garrett Joe, the 23-year-old civil engineering student at New Mexico Tech who was stabbed to death last week in Socorro, was held Wednesday outside his mother's home in the rural San Juan County village of Little Water, KOAT-TV reported.

Friends and family members gathered to remember Joe, who they said was an avid baseball player and skateboarder, Action 7 News reported.

"He had that fearless attitude and he took that into everything he did," Joe's uncle Aaron Benally told KOAT-TV.

Three brothers -- 18-year-old twins Jose and Rafael Gamez of Polvadera and 19-year-old Manuel Gamez of Socorro -- were arraigned Monday in Magistrate Court on charges of capital murder, conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence in connection with the June 6 stabbing death of 23-year-old Garrett Joe, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

Their mother, 50-year-old Jennie Gamez of Polvadera, was formally charged with conspiracy and tampering with evidence, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

Joe, a student at New Mexico Tech from Crownpoint, was found around 6 a.m. last Friday by a jogger in Socorro's Clarke Field and was taken to a hospital where he died shortly after his arrival, the paper said.

Joe had been stabbed four times in the back and hit on the head with a wrench, according to earlier reports.

Criminal complaints filed against the brothers said police questioned the Gamez brothers after an officer at the crime scene recognized Joe from a altercation the previous night when Joe allegedly told him he had been threatened by Jose Gamez, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

Later, a witness allegedly saw Joe strike Jose Gamez with a skateboard, then saw Manuel Gamez hold Joe in a headlock while Jose Gamez stabbed Joe and Rafael Gamez battered the victim, according to the complaints.

Witnesses also alleged that Rafael Gamez returned to Clarke Field about an hour after the earlier confrontation and struck Joe three times in the head with a wrench until Joe was no longer moving, the complaints said.

Jennie Gamez allegedly admitted to police that she helped dispose of the clothing worn by her sons during the incident at Clarke Field and, according to a criminal complaint, that she knew her sons had been in a fight and that someone may have died, the paper reported.

She was released from jail on Monday after posting a $2,000 cash or surety bond, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

Meanwhile, the brothers remain jailed on $500,000 cash-only bonds, according to the paper.

Jose Gamez was being housed at the McKinley County Detention Center in Gallup because he has a medical condition that cannot be treated at the Socorro jail, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

But he was transferred back to Socorro after he told the court he had received threats at the McKinley County jail because the stabbing victim was an American Indian, the paper said.