Raymond Martinez’s murder case has been put on pause after the 55-year-old Chimayó man’s competency was called into question.
A motion to determine his competency was filed on Aug. 29, but who filed it and why it was being brought now are unknown, as the motion is sealed. Martinez was set to go to trial in May, which was reset to October. Both trial dates were canceled and the case has been put on pause as his competency is being determined.
Martinez is accused of fatally shooting neighbor Joshua Montoya in 2023, following a dispute and last year, he was sent to the Los Lunas prison because his medical needs couldn’t be met at the Tierra Amarilla jail. He was previously ordered held without bail pending trial, as a danger to the community.
Martinez is charged with first degree murder, child abuse and felon in possession of a firearm for the July 2023 killing of Montoya, a father of five.
His attorney asked that he be released to get medical care, citing his health had been in “significant decline” and the medical director for the Tierra Amarilla jail, Levi Maes, recommended that he be released on a medical furlough or moved to a jail with an infirmary.
“Recently, defense counsel met with Mr. Martinez in person and noted that he has lost fifty pounds since being incarcerated, and he has extreme edema in his lower legs and bruises across his back,” Susan Burgess-Farrell wrote in the 2024 motion.
She wrote at the time that he was “physically unable to be a danger to the community.”
He is still in the custody of the state prisons.
After the initial competency motion on Aug. 29, District Judge Anastasia Martin filed an order for him to have a competency evaluation on Oct. 15. A hearing on his competency is now set for 10 a.m. Dec. 18.
Because the court records are sealed, it is unknown if the question of his competency is related to the life-threatening medical condition for which he was sent to the Los Lunas prison.
The Case
New Mexico State Police was called at 7:30 p.m. June 17, 2023, to a house on County Road 101 in Chimayó for two people fighting in the driveway. Once at the house, officers ordered them back in their houses and left, according to police reports.
Soon after, they resumed fighting and Martinez allegedly shot Montoya twice. He stumbled into his home, where he ultimately died on his kitchen floor from a gunshot to the head, according to police reports.
Past Convictions
The last legal wrangling in the case was when prosecutors sought to have Martinez’s two past homicide convictions used against him at trial. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 1998 and in 2015, he pleaded guilty to a drunk driving crash that killed his father, Ray Martinez Sr., according to court documents.
Everything, including the use of prior convictions, is on hold pending his competency.