Woman charged days after courtroom brawl in Downtown Albuquerque

The dust-up had all the makings of a Jerry Springer episode: warring families, overwhelmed security, and even a folding chair. Except the person overseeing the drama was state District Judge Cindy Leos, and the stage was her courtroom.

Now, a third person has been charged after the Jan. 31 court hearing in an Albuquerque homicide saw the relatives of Alianna Farfan attack the man accused of killing her.

Jamie Lucero, 34, is charged with battery upon a peace officer and unlawful assault on a jail after the incident. She is accused of using a folding chair to hit murder suspect Alexander Ortiz and a Metropolitan Detention Center officer trying to shield the blows in the 2nd Judicial District courtroom.

Unlike the other two charged in the melee — her husband, Carlos Lucero, 40, and Pete Ysasi, 51 — Jamie Lucero was able to leave the courthouse and Albuquerque police showed up to arrest her at home on Wednesday.

Jamie Lucero has since been booked into MDC.

Footage of the fight got national attention soon after being reported locally, reported by The New York Times, New York Daily News and TMZ, among others.

Video showed Carlos Lucero and Ysasi were first to attack Ortiz as he stood next to his public defender. Ortiz’s father joined in the fight, and Jamie Lucero ran up and kicked the father as he wrestled with her husband.

Jamie Lucero picked up a nearby folding chair and struck at Ortiz and the deputy before she walked back to the gallery and, soon after, left the courtroom as several deputies detained those involved.

On Tuesday, the Bernalillo County jail recognized corrections officer Steven Jackson for bravery during the attack.

“Despite facing six attackers at once, Officer Jackson maintained his composure under pressure. His heroic efforts went above and beyond,” MDC Warden Kai Smith said in a news release. “We are grateful Officer Jackson was able to take control of this vicious attack, saving this inmate, himself, and everyone in the courtroom from serious injury.”

MDC officials said Jackson put himself between Ortiz and several people trying to attack him “in an attempt to protect the inmate from blows to his head and body.”

Ortiz has been behind bars since February 2024, when he was arrested in the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend, 23-year-old Farfan. Ortiz was charged Monday with murder in another woman’s slaying that happened around the same time.

Court records show Carlos and Jamie Lucero were granted custody of Farfan’s daughter after the homicide.