Two brothers were stabbed, and one’s legs were run over Sunday during an attack by four strangers at a Calle del Pajarito apartment, according to Española Police.
James Graham, 37, was lying outside a Calle del Pajarito residence bleeding from several stab wounds to his neck and left arm when police arrived at the scene of a fight in progress, according to court documents. While being treated at Española Hospital later, Graham told police he received his injuries at a birthday party for his 13-year-old niece.
Graham told police his brother, Michael Graham, 39, whose daughter was celebrating her birthday, was the original victim of the attack by a man who got out of a maroon Honda in front of the residence, walked inside and started a commotion. James Graham saw the house’s tenant, Michael Graham’s girlfriend Tasha Valles, pushing the man outside the house, when the suspect pulled two knives out of his pocket, according to police.
The man, later identified as 25-year-old Ernesto Ybarra, nearly hit Michael Graham’s 13-year-old daughter while swinging the knives, before stabbing Michael Graham in his left upper torso, documents state. Michael Graham and his daughter escaped into Valles’ house. Through a window, Valles observed Ybarra allegedly stabbing James Graham while Fabian Archuleta, 25, and Johnny Gallegos, 20, allegedly struck him in the head and upper body with a metal pipe and kicked and punched him.
When Michael Graham attempted to intervene, Archuleta struck him with the metal pipe, while the other two men dragged James Graham toward the maroon Honda, documents state. Patricia Romero, 25, allegedly attempted to strike Michael Graham with the car and ran James Graham’s legs over, fracturing his right foot.
No motive has yet been found to explain the crime, Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said Monday. Court documents state Valles told police Ybarra said he was looking for a man whose name Valles didn’t recognize. Neither the Grahams nor Valles knew any of the suspects; other Calle del Pajarito residents helped police identify them, Lopez said.
“Why (Ybarra) went over there is still a mystery to us,” Lopez said.
Ybarra, of Hernandez; Gallegos, of Española; Archuleta, of Alcalde; and Romero were all found by State Police at Romero’s Alcalde home. Two pocket knives with three-inch blades were recovered and sent to the state crime lab, but it’s not yet known whether they were the weapons used in the attack, Lopez said. Syringes were also found at the house, but Lopez said it’s not known whom they belonged to and whether any of the four suspects were under the influence of drugs.
Ybarra was charged with four counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, burglary, child abuse, tampering with evidence and assault, court documents state. Archuleta was charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Gallegos was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and battery, and Romero was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, documents state. All four are being held without bond pending arraignment in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court.
The Graham brothers were both treated and released from Española Hospital, Lopez said.
“(James Graham) was stabbed pretty bad, and his foot that wasn’t broken was hurting worse than the fractured one — it was bruised and swelling up already by the time I left him yesterday,” Lopez said. “All of his injuries could have been fatal, he’s lucky.”