Judge sets plea deal deadline for suspect in deadly I-25 wrong-way crash
SANTA FE, N.M. — A judge set a plea deal deadline for a woman facing charges for a deadly wrong-way crash on I-25 in March 2022 – and a trial start date if a deal can’t be reached.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer set a trial start date for Dec. 5, with jury selection the day before. That’s only if they can’t reach a plea deal by Nov. 20, however.
A plea deal was in the works before Thursday but then fell through, leading to the judge setting that hard deadline and possible trial date.
Jeannine Jaramillo faces two counts of first-degree murder and a host of other charges. She told police a man kidnapped her, leading to a high-speed chase on March 2, 2022. The chase led to on I-25 near Santa Fe that claimed the lives of Santa Fe police officer Robert Duran and retired Las Vegas firefighter Frank Lovato.
Police investigated and uncovered through search warrants there was no one else in the car and that she was driving.
Authorities detained Jaramillo and arrested her three days after the crash.
In August 2022, a judge sentenced her to 18 months behind bars as a part of a plea deal for a similar chase in Cibola County. In this case, months before the fatal Santa Fe crash, she also allegedly claimed she was running from a man who tried to hold her at knifepoint.
For the Santa Fe crash, Jaramillo faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of:
- Great bodily harm by vehicle
- Aggravated fleeing police
- Stealing a vehicle
- Reckless driving
- Making false statements to police
- Bringing contraband into jail
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