Trial to start Friday in 2022 fatal wrong-way crash

An Albuquerque woman charged in a wrong-way crash that killed a Santa Fe police officer and a retired firefighter is set to begin trial this week, more than two years after the deadly wreck.

Jury selection was scheduled Wednesday in the trial of Jeannine Jaramillo, 49, who is charged with leading police on a high-speed wrong-way pursuit on Interstate 25 near Santa Fe that ended in a multi-vehicle crash.

Killed in the March 2022 crash were 43-year-old Santa Fe Police officer Robert Duran and 62-year-old Frank Lovato, a retired firefighter from Las Vegas, New Mexico, who was driving a pickup truck and not involved with the pursuit.

Testimony is expected to begin Friday in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.

Recent filings in the case reveal the dramatic sequence of events that ended in the fatal wreck. Prosecutors allege that Jaramillo fled from police in a stolen Chevrolet Malibu.

“The Malibu evaded police while fleeing at 90 miles per hour on I-25 and driving against traffic with numerous motorists quickly maneuvering to avoid head-on collisions,” prosecutors wrote in a Dec. 2 filing.

“While driving in a (pickup) truck, Frank Lovato avoided a collision with the Malibu, but unfortunately crashed into a marked police vehicle driven by Robert Duran during the chase,” the filing said. Duran also was driving the wrong way on I-25 in pursuit of Jaramillo.

The Malibu then crashed into another vehicle. Prosecutors say Jaramillo then exited the Malibu through the driver’s window.

Prosecutors also allege that Jaramillo lied to police, claiming that a man named “Lopez” forced her into the vehicle, threatened her with a gun and a knife and forced her to drive.

“Law enforcement did not witness or locate this male subject,” 1st Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and prosecutor Jennifer Padgett Macias wrote in the filing.

Jaramillo was treated and released from a hospital. Days later, New Mexico State Police accused her of fabricating the kidnapping story after DNA on the driver’s side airbag and data from the car’s passenger seat sensor suggested she was the driver and lone occupant.

Police alleged that Jaramillo “was likely alone when she fled, in a stolen vehicle, and caused the fatal accident on I-25,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Santa Fe Magistrate Court.

Jaramillo faces seven felony charges in all, including two counts of first-degree murder, great bodily injury by vehicle, aggravated fleeing a law officer, making a false report, reckless driving and a stolen vehicle charge.

Ongoing arguments

Attorneys in recent weeks have feuded over how much of Jaramillo’s prior conduct should be presented to jurors, court filings show. Prosecutors argue that Jaramillo’s prior actions would help prove the elements of first-degree murder.

Jaramillo’s attorney, David Silva of Las Vegas, New Mexico, argued in a Nov. 21 filing that introducing allegations of Jaramillo’s prior actions would be unfairly prejudicial to her and should be excluded.

As of Tuesday, Marlowe Sommer had not issued an order resolving the dispute, court records show.

Prosecutors allege that in September 2021, Jaramillo fled at high speed from Cibola County Sheriff’s deputies in Grants, running traffic lights and forcing other vehicles off the road, court records show. Officers stopped the vehicle using tire-deflation devices.

“Exactly like the current incident, (Jaramillo) said that a male subject, with the last name ‘Lopez,’ held a knife against her throat and forced her to flee from law enforcement in the vehicle,” prosecutors wrote. “Again, no other individuals were present in the area, and the vehicle was reported stolen.”

In that case, criminal charges against Jaramillo in Cibola County Magistrate Court were dismissed on Sept. 20, 2021, on condition that the charges could be presented to a grand jury or refiled at a later time, court records show.

Less than three weeks later, on Oct. 8, 2021, Jaramillo again was arrested by Cibola County Sheriff’s deputies, this time for allegedly stealing a Century Link bucket truck in Grants, according to a statement of probable cause filed in Cibola County Magistrate Court. The truck was later found in a ditch along eastbound Interstate 40.

Jaramillo told deputies that her boyfriend was with her at the time of the vehicle theft, but deputies found no male in the area, the statement said.

Jaramillo was charged with unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, but the charges were dropped on Nov. 2, 2021, again on condition that the charge could be refiled at a later time, court records show.