SANTA FE, N.M. – The trial of a woman accused of a kidnapping hoax which led to a deadly crash will take place. Opening statements are expected Friday in the trial of Jeannine Jaramillo. 

It was March 2022 when the families of Santa Fe police officer Robert Duran, and retired Las Vegas firefighter Frank Lovato changed forever. 

Both men were killed in a head on crash on I-25, and prosecutors say the woman responsible is Jeannine Jaramillo. 

Before the crash, Jaramillo claimed her boyfriend beat and kidnapped her at knife point. That lead to a high speed chase with officers pursuing a stolen white car, believing a man armed with a knife was holding Jaramillo hostage.

“We’re going to be oncoming traffic right around I-25, now he’s headed on I-25 wrong direction,” said 

That wrong way pursuit ended in tragedy.

Lapel camera video shows only Jaramillo getting out of the car, giving police a reason to believe she was lying about the whole thing. 

Officer: “You said Mark put gasoline on you.”

Jaramillo: “Yes, he did.”

Officer: “And I’m sitting next to the clothes that you were wearing when he did that. I don’t smell any gasoline.”

Jaramillo: “Oh, there’s gasoline on the clothes.”

KOB 4 spoke to Jaramillo in 2022 before she was charged, and she stuck to her story.

 “I wanted to come home and he didn’t want to bring me, and it started a big argument. I was yelling for help to this one man who lived at the apartment and he did help me, he called 911.”

Jaramillo was ultimately charged with murder, aggravated fleeing, reckless driving, and making a false report. 

Prosecutors offered Jaramillo a plea deal, but that fell through in September. That’s when we spoke with Duran’s family about the case now heading to trial.

“It’s not going to be easy for us to drive to Santa Fe every day and sit through trial and to see things and hear things. It’s just going to rip our hearts all over again, but we’ll be there,” said Angela Gamino, Duran’s sister. 

Opening statements are scheduled to begin Friday.