Two more people have been charged in connection with the beating death of Christopher Serrano in Chimayó in May 2024.
A grand jury indicted Fabian Gallegos on a charge of first-degree murder, one of the men on a charge of second-degree murder and a third with burglary on Feb. 19.
Gallegos, 37, of Española, was initially arrested by New Mexico State Police investigators on Jan. 6 and ordered held on $100,000 cash bail by Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid, on a second-degree murder charge. Magistrate Judge Alexandra Naranjo then released Gallegos on his own recognizance 14 days later, but ordered him to be on electric monitoring.
Gallegos was arrested at the Adult Probation office in Española, as he was on parole for the second-degree of Gilbert Ellerbe in 2009, after serving a 16-year sentence. He pleaded in that case in 2011.
A Rio Arriba county grand jury indicted Gallegos, Manuel Quintana and Danny Sanchez on Feb. 19.
The grand jury indicted Gallegos on charges of: first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, conspiracy to commit residential burglary, first-degree kidnapping, witness intimidation for threatening Sanchez, witness intimidation for threatening Quintana and witness intimidation for threatening another witness.
The grand jury indicted Sanchez, 35, of Hernandez, on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit residential burglary.
The grand jury indicted Quintana, 34, of Española, on charges of residential burglary and conspiracy to commit residential burglary.
District Court Judge Jason Lidyard signed warrants for the arrests of Gallegos and Sanchez on Feb. 21. Quintana had an arraignment set for March 6, which was then canceled.
Found beaten
The case started on May 14, 2024 when State Police officers found Serrano’s bound and beaten body at his Chimayó home. Officers were trying to arrest him on a warrant charging him with criminal sexual contact, kidnapping and aggravated battery on a household member for an alleged attack on his girlfriend, after she said he took meth and cocaine. That alleged attack on his girlfriend took place on May 7.
The officers found Serrano’s body hog-tied, his feet taped together and his hands taped behind his back, with tape around his face and mouth. He was lying face-down in the dirt in front of the house and there was a “large amount of blood” around his head, State Police Agent Daniel Martinez wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant for Gallegos.
An autopsy report listed the cause of death as asphyxial injuries and blunt head trauma, Martinez wrote.
ID’ing the
suspects
Three months after officers found Serrano’s body, they identified two people who had been with Serrano the night he was killed. The pair told State Police officers that they were hanging out with Serrano when there was a knock on the door. Serrano left the house and never came back. Two masked men walked into the house, whom they both identified as Quintana and Sanchez, by their voices and builds, Martinez wrote.
Another three months later, State Police officers stopped Quintana in Española and interrogated him. He allegedly told investigators that he was asked by Sanchez to take him and Gallegos to a friend’s house, Serrano’s, and that he went into the house to use the bathroom and for a tissue, but denied beating Serrano, Martinez wrote.
Investigators interrogated Sanchez at the Tierra Amarilla Detention Center. Sanchez told Martinez that Gallegos went to Serrano’s house because he bought a TV and a gate from him. While they were outside, Sanchez punched Serrano “because he thought Chris said something disrespectful to (Gallegos)” and after the punch, Gallegos told Martinez and Quintana to go inside the house to get the things he bought, Martinez wrote.
As they were leaving, Gallegos was in a panic, telling them to hurry, and drove erratically away from the house. Sanchez referred to Gallegos by the nickname Suave, Martinez wrote.
“Danny said Suave told him ‘The dude wouldn’t shut the (expletive) up, he woke up screaming and (expletive), I had a pipe, and I just kept beating him with the pipe, telling him shut the (expletive) up or I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you, shut the (expletive) up.’” Martinez wrote. “Danny said he told Suave why he would do that, the guy had no business getting hurt like that. Danny said Suave told him ‘Were (sic) good if anything ill just kill the other witnesses.’ Danny said he told Suave ‘no, you are not going to do that.’”
Martinez wrote that Sanchez told him that Gallegos threatened to kill everyone if they ever said anything.