Courtesy Santa Fe County Sheriff
News
A man facing 16 felony charges in the fatal shooting of a 49-year-old woman and her 15-year-old son Monday night remained at large Tuesday night, officials from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department say.
Jose Antonio “Adrian” Roman, a 44-year-old known to frequent both Santa Fe and Albuquerque, is accused of entering a home located off West Alameda Street near N.M. 599 and shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend Carmen Navarrate de Gonzales and her 15-year-old son, who remains unnamed in court documents.
Law enforcement advised area residents Tuesday morning that Roman had eluded officers on foot and was “armed and extremely dangerous,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s department.
Before Monday’s alleged shooting, Roman already faced charges of domestic violence against Navarrate de Gonzales. On Oct. 28, the Second Judicial District Court issued an arrest warrant over an incident between the two in which Navarrate de Gonzales reported Roman grabbed her neck, used a knife to keep her from leaving and beat her with a gun and his fists. He’s charged with three counts of aggravated battery against a household member, two counts of aggravated assault with use of a deadly weapon and one count of false imprisonment.
The court also issued a protective order for Navarrate de Gonzales against Roman on Nov. 8 at her request.
“I want you all to please help me to get a restraining order against Jose Antonio Adrian Roman,” she wrote in Spanish. “He stopped being my partner as soon as he hit me. I don’t want to ever see him again in my life.”
Now, Roman also faces two counts of first-degree murder; three counts of shooting at a dwelling or occupied building; three counts of child abuse; six counts of assault with an intent to commit a violent felony; and aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer.
Tuesday’s arrest warrant affidavit says Christopher Adrian Salgado, the son of the suspect, made a call to the Albuquerque Police Department on Monday evening about an hour after he says Roman took a firearm with the intention to travel to Santa Fe to harm Navarrate de Gonzales.
Salgado told law enforcement his father came to his house drunk around 8 pm that evening and asked for his gun after making threats against Navarrate de Gonzales. Salgado said he refused to give Roman the weapon, but told police Roman entered a closet and left the residence with a Mossberg 590 shotgun.
The county sheriff reports APD contacted the Santa Fe Regional Emergency Communications Center at 9:13 pm to request a welfare check on Navarrate de Gonzales. Just six minutes later, dispatch received an open line phone call that “sounded like struggling,” according to the affidavit. The caller managed to give an address in the 1400 block of Prince of Peace, and said there was an ex-boyfriend in the home with a gun. Shortly after, reports of shots fired rolled in.
A criminal complaint reports six others were in the home at the time of the incident: Navarrate de Gonzales’s daughters: Priscilla, Ana and an unnamed 17-year-old referred to as “EG” Gonzales; Eduardo Ramirez, who is Priscilla’s boyfriend; and their 1-year-old child; plus another 1-year-old whom police identify with the initials “AM.”
In interviews with Detective Joel Cano, all three of the daughters and Ramirez identified the suspect and said there was a history of domestic disputes between Roman and Navarrate de Gonzales.
Priscilla told officers she was making soup in the kitchen Monday night when she heard a “pop” sound. That’s when she stated she went to her mother’s bedroom, where her son was with his grandmother. Priscilla said she saw Navarrate de Gonzales standing near the window before she saw blood and her mother began to slump over. Priscilla said she then closed the bedroom door and locked herself and her child in the bathroom while she searched for “a weapon to defend herself.”
At the same time, Ramirez told investigators, he was playing Xbox in a separate room when he heard what he described to officers as a “bang sound.” He said Priscilla called out to him to close the door. He did so, and then used a bed in the room to barricade the door.
Ana said she heard what sounded like glass breaking, then called out to make sure everything was okay. At this point, she told officers she heard Priscilla say “no, no, no” and instruct Ana to hide. Ana said she could hear noise coming from the kitchen.
Finally, the unidentified 17-year-old told investigators she was preparing to take a shower when she heard what sounded like “multiple gunshots.” She stated she locked the door and hid “in fear of her life.” Investigators found shotgun shells inside and outside the home.
Court filings report Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Rudy Vallejo arrived at the home on Prince of Peace at 9:22 pm and observed an individual leaving the residence in a white pickup truck. Roman, who was driving a white Nissan Titan truck, did not comply with attempts to stop the vehicle, then crashed into the patrol unit before fleeing through a dirt path, crashing into a tree and a ditch and then abandoning the truck on foot.
The county news releases says the sheriff’s office and the Santa Fe Police Department, as well as New Mexico State Police, conducted a search of the area but were unable to locate Roman.
The department urges anyone with information to contact detectives at (505) 428-3720 and to not approach Roman, but to call 911 if he’s spotted. He’s described as 5′8″, 200 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. The department issued an email alert to area residents at 9:57 am Tuesday advising them to “keep doors and windows locked.”
An earlier version of this story has been updated, including to correct the number of people police say were in the home at the time of the shooting.
Julie Ann Grimm contributed reporting.
