A jury found a woman guilty of all charges she faced for faking a kidnapping and killing two people in a wrong-way crash on I-25.
Jurors found guilty Jeannine Jaramillo of two counts of first-degree felony murder and other charges for the crash that claimed the lives of Santa Fe police officer Robert Duran and retired Las Vegas firefighter Frank Lovato in March 2022.
Jaramillo was also convicted of one count each of great bodily injury by vehicle, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle (second offense), making a false report of a violation of the criminal code and reckless driving. The conviction came after closing arguments Thursday.
Jaramillo Made Up the Kidnapping Story
In March 2022, reports indicated that a man had kidnapped Jaramillo at knifepoints from an apartment complex near Sawmill Road and St. Francis Drive. Police said they later determined Jaramillo made up the story and was driving the car that led police on a wrong-way chase on Interstate 25.
According to the New Mexico State Police, Santa Fe police initiated a pursuit with a white Chevrolet Malibu on Wednesday, March 2 after receiving reports of a kidnapping. Two police vehicles, two civilian vehicles and the stolen vehicle Jaramillo was in, crashed near the Old Pecos Trail exit. This was the fatal collision that killed Lovato and Duran. Jaramillo suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Jaramillo allegedly told a woman at the apartment complex that she was being kidnapped, prompting the woman to call 911. Speaking between the crash and her Saturday arrest, Jaramillo also told investigators and local news outlet KOB that her boyfriend kidnapped her at knifepoint. He also had a gun, she said.
Jaramillo claimed to have blacked out during the crash and that she did not remember how the boyfriend escaped. The outlet learned through a search warrant that officers only saw her, and no one else, leave the vehicle.
Jaramillo’s DNA Found on Driver-Side Airbag, Had Previously Made Up Similar Stories for Crimes She Had Committed
However, investigators found Jaramillo’s DNA on the driver’s airbag. They also learned that Jaramillo had previously given a “”suspiciously similar” for crimes she committed.
In September 2021, Jaramillo reported that a man held her against her will with a knife to her neck and he hid on the floorboard following a high-speed chase. She was charged at the time with receiving a stolen vehicle, aggravated fleeing and possession of methamphetamine, authorities said.
Jaramillo Said She Led Police on a Chase ‘Because it was Fun’
In their closing argument, prosecutors said Jaramillo admitted to leading police on the chase “because it was fun.” “She committed these crimes, knowingly, willingly, and with a depraved mind, and we ask that you find her guilty of all charges,”
Jaramillo’s attorneys declined to give an opening statement and didn’t call any witnesses. In closing arguments, her attorney said the state didn’t prove she had the required state of mind to warrant a first-degree murder conviction.
“At best, the state has shown evidence that the reckless driving caused the deaths of Duran and Lovato. But there’s no evidence that she had an evil mind, a perverted mind, a corrupt mind. There’s no evidence that she knew that her driving was going to result in the deaths of those two men,” the attorney said.
