A Farmington man with a lengthy criminal record is in the San Juan County Detention Center after reportedly stabbing three people within a week.
Jordan Keith Armijo, 53, has been charged with second-degree attempted murder and two counts of third-degree felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in connection to three stabbings. The first was July 15 at the Broadway Speedway; the second, July 22 on the Berg Park Riverwalk behind the Red Lion Inn; and the third, at a home in the 1400 block of York Avenue.
The Farmington Police Department was called at 10:36 p.m. July 15 to the Speedway at 507 East Broadway to investigate the stabbing of Corey Washburn, 44, who had been stabbed in his stomach “just under his right rib cage,” according to the statement of probable cause.
The suspect was identified as Armijo, who had a “black knife in his pants pocket,” with “blood on the tip of the blade,” according to statement.
Armijo allegedly told police Washburn tried “to jump him and cut him, so he stabbed him.” However, police did not find a knife in Washburn’s possession.
Police also stated that Armijo became angry and not respond when asked for details. He “appeared” intoxicated, according to the statement.
Armijo was arrested and jailed at the San Juan County Detention Center at 7:20 a.m. July 16. He was released on his own recognizance into Pretrial Services by Magistrate Stanley King, even though he had at least three other convictions for violent crimes on his record.
Convictions included aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in 2006, robbery in 2009 and aggravated battery against a household member in 2009, for which Armijo was sentenced to four years in the Department of Corrections.
Six days after being released from jail, Armijo allegedly stabbed two other people.
The Tri-City Record was notified of the first stabbing by a resident who saw police in the area July 22, and then found blood spatter on the trail the next morning.
Farmington Police spokeswoman Shanice Gonzales confirmed there had been a stabbing and provided the case report number, but no further information.
The Tri-City Record made a public records request at 5:38 p.m. July 23 to the Farmington Police Department for the police report, which involved a stabbing on the Berg Park Riverwalk the morning of July 22.
The police department the Tri-City Record at 11:08 a.m. July 24 that the report wasn’t ready.
“The report you requested is not yet available for release,” it said. “We will keep your request paused until the record is available for release.”
However, the Tri-City Record obtained the report of another stabbing involving Armijo, and that report tied him to the Berg Park stabbing, so the newspaper gathered information from an arrest affidavit filed with the 11th Judicial District Court.
Then, at 10:55 a.m. July 26, the police department further delayed release of the report.
“The report you requested has not yet been received by Farmington Police Records. We are extending the date of your request an additional 12 Calendar days to fulfill,” it said.
Asked about the delays, Gonzales suggested that three vacant jobs in the records division might be causing the delays. However, the department did share crime scene photos from the Berg Park stabbing.
The Farmington Police Department released the police report for the Berg Park stabbing at 10:33 a.m. July 29, and there was no new information in the report.
Armijo is accused of stabbing Tirell Allen July 22 on the Berg Park Riverwalk between the Courtyard by Marriott and the Red Lion Inn. About 10:48 a.m., police found Allen “heavily bleeding from his neck,” the affidavit says.
“The scene started at the brick along the river walk, the walking path, and the path of apparent blood that spanned west towards Denny’s,” the affidavit says.
Allen was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center in critical condition and underwent “exploratory surgery to stop the bleeding in his neck,” the affidavit states.
Hospital officials say Allen now is in stable condition.
When he was interviewed by police July 23 in the ICU, Allen reportedly said he was approached by a man, later identified as Armijo, who “expressed a desire to fight,” the affidavit says.
Allen reported that he did not want to fight, and Armijo “began attacking him, stabbing him in the neck and face,” and then walked away, the affidavit says.
About eight hours later, police were called to a home in the 1400 block of York Avenue, where they found Virgil Canuto, Armijo’s uncle, “lying on the ground” outside a shed, where he “appeared to have sustained heavy trauma to his head and numerous large lacerations in the back of his head,” according to the Farmington Police report.
Canuto was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he was “intubated and medically sedated” and was in critical condition, according to the arrest affidavit.
Hospital officials say Canuto is in stable condition.
A witness reportedly told police that Armijo was staying at the residence with Canuto and had reportedly walked away from the home with “blood on his khaki pants and hands,” the police report states.
Armijo was picked up in the area of Miller Street and Murray Drive, and he reportedly told police “he was upset because his uncle had accused and spread rumors of him being a ‘child molester,’” so he “struck Virgil in the head with a closed fist,” the affidavit says.
Armijo reportedly admitted that he kicked Canuto in the head and then used “blue-handled scissors,” which he “sticked” into Canuto’s cheek twice. He also allegedly stated that he used a “pellet-style air gun and pumped it ten times,” shooting Canuto “with a ‘copper head’ pellet directly in the back” to paralyze him, the affidavit says.
Armijo reportedly told police that he “tried to kill his uncle,” according to the affidavit.
During the interview, police also asked Armijo about the stabbing of Allen earlier in the day, and he reportedly responded that he stabbed him “because he believed him to a be a ‘Chomo,’ slang for child molester,” and that he walked northeast on the Riverwalk, where he disposed of the knife,” the affidavit states.
The San Juan County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion for pretrial detention to hold Armijo in jail until his trial, saying, “Based on the serious nature of the offense, the State believes no viable conditions of release exist to ensure the safety of the community at this time.”
Judge Curtis Gurley presided over a hearing on Friday for this motion. During the hearing, Armijo and his attorney, Ariel White, waived his preliminary hearing and agreed to remain in jail until trial, without admitting guilt.
Armijo will remain in the detention center until trial, at a date to be determined.
