Simon Christopher Jaramillo identified as NYE Shooting Victim, family mourn

Simon Christopher Jaramillo Death – At a New Year’s Eve celebration in Chimayo, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot by a shooter with an AK-47-style rifle, according to court documents. According to an arrest warrant affidavit submitted by the New Mexico State Police, Simon Christopher Jaramillo, of Chimayo, died on January 1 after being shot at with the rifle by Joshua Chavez, aged 21. Chavez was detained on January 1 and charged with first-degree murder. He claimed to have “blacked out” and did not remember pulling the trigger. According to jail records, the Chimayo resident is being held without bond at the Rio Arriba County Adult Detention Facility.

Information from court record

Records show that the alleged murderer claimed state police “he didn’t know his gun was loaded and accidentally shot his friend” when he phoned state police from the crime scene, a home at 11 County Road 93A. When state police officers arrived, they allegedly discovered trainee electrician Jaramillo dead in the living room of the house with a clearly visible injury to his head and the murder weapon next to him. Chavez was detained at the scene of the shooting on New Year’s Day and questioned by state police, according to records. When he arrived on New Year’s Eve, he claimed to have spotted the murder weapon on a table in the living room of the house, according to authorities. According to police records, it was unclear who possessed the gun.

After midnight, Chavez started shooting. “Chavez picked up the firearm and it went off, injuring Simon Jaramillo,” state police agents wrote, recounting Chavez’s version of the shooting. Police said Chavez claimed he didn’t recall depressing the trigger. He initially refused to give investigators the names of anyone at the house party at the time of the homicide, records show. Later in his interview with police, Chavez said he had “blacked out and did not know who was there,” the affidavit states. A witness at the home’s New Year’s Eve party claimed to have heard the gunshot while standing outside. “Everyone from the party ran out telling the witness to leave because someone was shot,” according to the records.

Instead, the witness claimed that Chavez was encountered as he fled into the house. Chavez told the man he hadn’t meant to shoot Jaramillo, and called his killing a “accident,” agents wrote. Records show that despite Chavez’s account of the incident, investigators did not accept it. “Based on the information provided in interviews, and the evasive answers given by Joshua Chavez, I believe this is a homicide,” wrote State Police Agent Shane Faulkner. “A properly functioning firearm does not randomly fire. The trigger must be pressed to cause the gun to go off.” Chavez also raised other issues for the investigators. According to authorities, the man had several tattoos, including an AK-47 on his forearm, did not provide a social security number, and did not appear to have a driver’s license.

Further information

As per the records, Chavez has not confessed to the murder. There was no way to get in touch with his lawyer. According to authorities, Chavez is accused of committing other shootings while out having fun in Chimayo. According to documents submitted by the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Chavez was charged with drug trafficking and careless use of a deadly weapon five months before Jaramillo’s murder. According to the court documents, on July 13, when someone reported hearing a loud blast nearby, Chavez was allegedly consuming marijuana and drinking while parked in a blue Dodge Dart at a Chimayo park. Jaramillo’s Glock 19 and more over an ounce of cocaine were discovered by police after they searched the Dodge, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors dismissed the July case against Chavez Sept. 28 “due to an issue with discovery” but refiled the charges following Jaramillo’s murder, records show. Jaramillo’s family described him as a “loving son, brother, grandson, and friend to everyone he met” in his obituary. According to Jaramillo’s relatives, he was an apprentice electrician for IBEW Local 611. According to his family, he was a fan of lowriders, motorcycles, and fast automobiles. “Simon, I don’t know how I’ll manage without you… In a Facebook tribute to her nephew, Frieda Martinez, one of Jaramillo’s aunts, said, “I wish it was all a dream I could wake up from. “[You] barely started your life; you just turned 21 on Christmas. You had a lot of plans and goals ahead of you, and it was all going to end so quickly.

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