Suspect arrested in fatal Taos stabbing

TAOS — A man is accused of fatally stabbing a man through his ear and stabbing the man's brother in his head Tuesday evening in a small community near Ranchos de Taos.

Vicente Martinez, 45, is charged with first-degree murder; and two counts each of aggravated battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Taos County deputies responded Tuesday evening to a report of an unconscious male on Romero Lane off Old State Road 382 in Llano Quemado, where they discovered 53-year-old Abraham Fernandez dead with a stab wound in his left ear.

Fernandez's brother was also at the scene and had been stabbed in the head. The brother was treated at Holy Cross Medical Center before being released.

According to a press release from Taos County Sheriff Steve Miera, deputies learned through Fernandez that he and his brother had been conducting a site survey at a property they own on Romero Lane when they got into an argument with Martinez.

The dispute escalated into a physical fight, deputies said, with Martinez stabbing both men before deputies took him into custody.

Further details regarding Martinez's case were unavailable in online court records as of around noon Wednesday.

 This is a developing story.

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