Shooting death of woman at Tomé home

TOMÉ — A Los Lunas woman is dead after shots were exchanged at a Tomé home on the Fourth of July.

Amanda Sullivan, 33, of Los Lunas, has been identified as the woman shot and killed during an attempt to steal a trailer from a home in the 80 block of Romero Road.

Residents at the home called 911 at about 9:30 p.m., Monday, July 4, to report people were trying to break into the house. Valencia County Sheriff’s Detective Ben Lankasky said the call was disconnected, but the residents called back, saying gunshots had been fired. When deputies arrived, the residents at the home were uninjured, the detective said.

While deputies were on their way to the home on Romero, another 911 call came in from Anthony Edgerton Jaramillo saying his girlfriend, later identified as Sullivan, had been shot in the face while they were on a ditchbank watching fireworks. The call came from somewhere on San Eligio, a private road that runs west off of La Entrada.

Jaramillo, 27, of Meadow Lake, is charged with attempted aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, both third-degree felonies; and conspiracy to commit larceny, a fourth-degree felony, in relation to his alleged part of the crimes that led up to Sullivan’s death.

Lankasky said investigators are still waiting on forensic testing of evidence by the New Mexico state crime lab to determine who fired the shot that killed Sullivan. No one has been charged in relation to her death, the detective said.

A third man was with Sullivan and Jaramillo that night, but he has not been identified, the detective said, but there are persons of interest investigators are looking into. Lankasky said the residents at the home and the people who entered the property didn’t know each other.

On the night of July 4, one of the homeowners was outside watching the fireworks, carrying two AR-15 rifles with an extra magazine, a revolver, a thermal imaging unit with dead batteries and a compact Smith and Wesson “backup gun,” according to the criminal complaint filed against Jaramillo. He told deputies he and his wife had been having issues with the home being broken into.

The homeowner told deputies he saw two vehicles on a ditchbank approach a gate on the east side of his property. The vehicles ­— a black Ford pickup and a dark sedan — entered the property and the truck immediately backed up to a gooseneck trailer.

Jaramillo and Sullivan were in the pickup while a second man was driving the car, according to the criminal complaint.

The homeowner saw a man run from the car to the house, then heard someone banging on and kicking the back door. The report notes the kicking of the door could be heard in the 911 call made by his wife, who was inside the home.

The homeowner told officers he saw the man from the car run around the home, then heard banging on the front door. He followed the man but couldn’t find him.

That’s when the man by the gooseneck shot at him and the homeowner told them to get off the property. He said Sullivan got out of the passenger seat of the pickup and began walking towards him.

The driver of the Ford fired at him again and the homeowner returned fire. At one point, the woman was blocking his view of the driver of the pickup, the homeowner told deputies. During the exchange of gunfire, Sullivan was shot in the head and fell to the ground.

The driver of the pickup, later identified as Jaramillo, continued firing at the homeowner as he picked up Sullivan and put her in the truck. Both vehicles left, going east on Romero.

Deputies located the black pickup on San Eligio, parked with the passenger door open. Sullivan was on the ground on her back, and Jaramillo was standing over her with a white, bloodstained cloth in his hand.

Deputies placed Jaramillo in handcuffs and put in a patrol unit while deputies attempted to find a pulse for Sullivan, but no pulse was found. Medical personnel at the scene confirmed she was dead.

Jaramillo was arrested and booked into the Valencia County Detention Center on outstanding warrants out of the village of Bosque Farms and Valencia County. He was ordered held on a $3,000 cash or surety bond by Magistrate Miles Tafoya, and bonded out on Saturday, July 9.