NM Supreme Court affirms convictions of Taos County woman in Thanksgiving 2020 murder near Peñasco

SANTA FE — New Mexico's high court on Monday issued an opinion affirming a Taos County woman's convictions for participating in the murder of a childhood friend she said had drugged and raped her shortly before his slaying on Thanksgiving Day 2020.

In a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice Michael E. Vigil, all five New Mexico Supreme Court justices rejected Precious Aguilar's arguments that there was insufficient evidence to convict her at trial.

Aguilar claimed in her appeal that an 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office prosecutor had mischaracterized testimony during closing arguments, confusing the jury in a case that incorporated several statements from witnesses and co-defendants to piece together how the killing took place.

In May 2024, a Taos District Court jury convicted Aguilar of accessory to first-degree murder; conspiracy to commit first-degree murder; accessory to first-degree kidnapping; accessory to aggravated battery; and tampering with evidence tied to the killing of Leroy Demasio Fresquez.

Aguilar is currently serving a life sentence in prison, plus nine years.

Shortly before Thanksgiving 2020, Aguilar told her family that Fresquez drugged her with methamphetamine, raped her and held her hostage for about a week.

In a complex sequence described by witnesses and co-defendants, Aguilar's mother, Juanita Romero, stabbed Fresquez several times with a knife as they, Aguilar and the witnesses traveled in a car toward Vadito near the small mountain community of Peñasco in southeastern Taos County.

Aguilar was sitting on Fresquez's lap in the front-passenger seat while her mother was sitting behind them inside the vehicle, according to trial testimony. During the altercation, witnesses said Fresquez knocked a knife out of Romero's hands and was attempting to stab her with it when a passenger pointed a gun at him and said, "Don't even try it."

Romero then brandished a large kitchen knife she had hidden and continued to stab Fresquez, who eventually managed to escape after a passenger opened his door from the outside once the car had stopped moving.

After retrieving a firearm from the driver of the vehicle, Romero chased Fresquez into the mountains, and witnesses testified they heard a single gunshot. Romero then returned to the vehicle briefly and retrieved a knife before walking back, accompanied by the driver, toward where the shot was fired.

Fresquez's remains were found in the mountains months later, and a total of four other people were charged in separate cases tied to his killing.

In September 2023, Romero was tried for first-degree homicide and other charges tied to the man's slaying, but a jury found her not guilty on all counts, concluding that the state had not met its burden of proof after basing many of the charges on a handwritten letter submitted by one of the co-defendants in the case.

In her appeal, Aguilar argued that the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office failed to prove she had intended for her mother to kill Fresquez, a key element required for the charge of accessory to first-degree murder.

The Justices disagreed, however, arguing that "a reasonable jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant intended for Juanita to kill Victim based on the evidence presented at trial.

“Defendant had a motive to hurt Victim because Defendant alleged Victim had kidnapped, drugged, and raped her right before Victim’s death," the opinion reads.

The Supreme Court also noted that the evidence indicated Aguilar was attempting to restrain Fresquez by sitting in his lap during the stabbing.

"The jury could reasonably rely on this evidence to conclude that each element of conspiracy, first-degree kidnapping, and aggravated battery were met to find Defendant guilty," according to the opinion.

Justices found that the prosecutor did misquote or take out of context some testimony during closing arguments, prompting an objection from the defense that Taos District Court Judge Emilio Chavez dismissed.

However, when taking the prosecutor's errors into "the context of the trial as a whole," the high court concluded that "the prosecutor’s comment did not materially alter the trial, or confuse the jury by distorting the evidence, and thereby Defendant was not deprived of a fair trial."

John Miller is the Albuquerque Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.