Photo Courtesy Taos County Sheriff’s Office

BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Eighth Judicial District Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Gardner is seeking detention pending trial for Vicente Martinez, 45, following his arrest Tuesday in connection with the murder of Abraham Fernandez and wounding of Isaac Fernandez in Llano Quemado, near Taos. Court documents show Martinez’s last known address in Rio Rancho.

Martinez, who is employed by Los Alamos County as a facilities manager, is set to appear before Judge Emilio J. Chavez February 2 for a hearing on a motion for pre-trial detention and a concurrent preliminary hearing.

Martinez is charged with first degree murder (wilful and deliberate) a capital felony, two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He is alleged to have stabbed each of the Fernandez brothers in their left ear, resulting in the death of Abraham Fernandez, 53.

Court documents filed by Taos Sheriff’s Deputy Donivan Byers indicate that he was dispatched in the early hours of Tuesday evening to an address on Old State Highway 382 in Taos County in response to “a battery that had led to a subject losing his life”. On arrival, officers discovered Abrahaham Fernandez unresponsive on the ground. Sheriff’s Office detectives determined there had been a homicide. A news release from the Sheriff’s Office states that according to the preliminary investigation, the Fernandez brothers had arrived to do a sight survey on property they owned on Romero Lane.

“While they were parked on Romero Lane, they were confronted by Vicente Martinez of Taos, and a verbal altercation ensued, which escalated into a physical altercation. Abraham Fernandez appeared to have suffered a stab wound to the left ear which was fatal. Isaac Fernandez also suffered a stab would to his head for which he was treated and released from the hospital,” the Sheriff’s Office news release states.

Martinez was booked into the Taos County Jail.