Year in review: Two were charged for murder

This is the first in a series of the top stories and photos published in the Quay County Sun in 2016:

Local losses

• A house fire resulted in the death of Logan resident Billy E. Sparks, 92, on Feb. 19.

Reports said the fire followed a loud explosion at Sparks residence in the 500 block of Zuni in Logan.

Logan Volunteer Fire Department firefighters were dispatched at 11:25 a.m.

Logan Fire Chief Rex Stall said upon arrival, firefighters reported a residence fully engulfed by flames. It took 45 minutes to contain and extinguish the fire.

Stall said the cause of the explosion and the fire are still under investigation. He said it appears the source of the fire could have been the rekindling from an earlier controlled burn near the residence.

Stall said the last fatal fire in Logan occurred in May 2010 with a house fire resulting in the death of 77-year-old Dave Bryant.

• Two Logan men died on Nov. 2 in a lone-vehicle rollover.

New Mexico State Police officials said Kevin Miller, 48, and Jason Gorham, 34, died at the scene.

Miller was the driver. Both victims were ejected from the vehicle.

The accident was reported about 7:30 p.m. at Williams Road near State Road 540.

"Officers indicated a vehicle was traveling northbound ... at what appeared to be a high rate of speed," state police said in a news release. "The vehicle lost control and exited the roadway, rolling numerous times."

• Tucumcari City Commissioner John Mihm was found dead on Dec. 19 at his home.

At 10 a.m., police dispatchers received a call from employees at Buena Vista Labs stating that Mihm had not come to work, Deputy Police Chief Pete Rivera said.

Officers were dispatched to Mihm's residence on the 2500 block of South Fifth Street where they found Mihm's body in his vehicle in the garage next to the residence.

Rivera said the cause of death was unknown. An autopsy has been ordered, and New Mexico State Police are investigating.

Crime and courts

• Robert McClelland, pharmacist and owner of Bob's Budget Pharmacy in Tucumcari, was arrested on Feb. 3 on four felony charges related to unlawfully obtaining dangerous drugs and controlled substances and forgery.

The incidents for which he was charged occurred in February and March 2015, according to court records. McClelland was released after posting a $20,000 bond.

The charges involve prescriptions that were alleged to be improperly written for a member of McClelland's family, according to a statement of probable cause signed by Detective Charles Bouyer.

McClelland and his attorney, Nancy English, said the charges stemmed from a family dispute.

McClelland was sentenced to community service after reaching a plea agreement. Terms of the agreement will end no later than August 2018.

• A 22-year-old Tucumcari man was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder on March 11, following an early morning shooting on the 900 block of East Rankin.

Raymond Chavez was charged with attempted first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, contribution to the delinquency of a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia.

At 3:38 a.m. March 11, officers responded to a call reporting a prowler on the 1000 block of East Hines, said Police Chief Jason Braziel, where officers discovered a male subject who had suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound. He was taken to Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital.

Braziel said through further investigation, officers determined that the shooting had occurred at a residence on the 900 block of East Rankin Avenue. The shooter was later identified as Chavez, who was arrested.

• The Tucumcari Police Department investigated the death of Anthony Gallegos, whose body was found June 22 on West Sunset Avenue.

At the time of the incident, the cause of Gallegos' death was not released, according to Police Chief Jason Braziel.

Braziel said at 4:18 p.m. that day, officers responded to the report of a possible deceased person in the 700 block of West Sunset Avenue. Officers were able to identify Gallegos, whose body they discovered in an alley.

New Mexico State Police Criminal Investigations Bureau officials assisted the police department with processing of the crime scene and interviewing witnesses.

Timothy Skinner and Jerry Ingram were formally charged with Gallegos' death on Aug. 3.

Tim Rose, 10th Judicial district attorney, said a third person, Dominic Aragon, faces lesser charges in connection with the case.

Skinner, 21, has been charged with first-degree murder, bribery of a witness, tampering with evidence, abuse of a child, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, shooting from or at a motor vehicle and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Ingram, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder, bribery of a witness, tampering with evidence, abuse of a child and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

Aragon, 18, has been charged with bribery of a witness, tampering with evidence, abuse of a child and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

• A missing teenager was found in the parking lot of Tucumcari's Motel 6 on Sept. 3 shortly after her stepmother was found dead in Kentucky.

Quay County police officers found Jenna Oakley, 15, Kenneth R. Nigh, 20, of Arlington, Indiana, who was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They were traveling in the dead woman's 2014 Honda Civic.

Neither Nigh nor Oakley were charged in connection with the death of Oakley's stepmother, Rhonda Oakley.

Jenna Oakley was first reported missing while police were investigating her stepmother's death, said Kentucky Trooper Robert Purdy.

Purdy said at the time that the cause of Rhonda Oakley's death had not been released.

On Sept. 13, Nigh was airlifted to an Amarillo hospital after attempting to commit suicide while in the Quay County Detention Center.

Deputy Chief Peter Rivera said Nigh was alive, but no additional information about his current condition would be released.

Rivera said he could not comment on how Nigh was injured.

• A standoff with police that lasted more than eight hours ended peacefully on the morning of Sept. 4 at a Tucumcari residence.

George Salaz, 37, and Regina Vargas, 34, of Tucumcari were arrested about 12:45 a.m.

Jason Braziel, Tucumcari's chief of police, said at 2:47 p.m., officers responded to a report of a battery at the residence in the 1400 block of South Monroe where they found a man and two children.

He said when officers arrived, a woman told them she had been assaulted and that the man and a woman who assaulted her were inside the home.

Braziel said officers tried to make contact with the individuals, later identified as Salaz and Vargas, who declined to exit the residence. Both of the Tucumcari residents had multiple warrants for their arrest prior to the day's incident.

• Operations at the U.S. Post Office and other offices in downtown Tucumcari were brought to a halt following two bomb threats within a week.

The threat on Sept. 26 was resolved quickly as city police, Quay County Sheriff Russell Shafer and postal officials cleared the building and found nothing suspicious, said Pete Rivera, Tucumcari's deputy police chief.

A similar threat on Sept. 21 shut down the post office most of the day as officials called in New Mexico State Police to ensure there were no explosive devices. No devices were found.

• An 80-mile car chase from Amarillo to San Jon ended with a 33-year-old man shot in a gunfight with Texas state police officers on Oct. 24.

Mario Montes, the driver of the vehicle, was shot in the lower abdomen by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper following the pursuit, officials said. He was shot after exiting the vehicle and running toward officers as he fired his handgun and striking an Amarillo Police Department vehicle.

Montes was airlifted to an Amarillo hospital where his condition was listed as critical but stable.

Officials said Montes and three other people were in a gray Ford SUV when an Amarillo police officer attempted to make a traffic stop about 4:30 a.m. (CDT) on. Oct. 24. The SUV did not stop, and someone inside began firing at police and a chase ensued down several city blocks and onto Interstate 40.

No formal charges were filed at the time.

• A local man was arrested and charged on Nov. 18 with battery on a peace officer after an incident with an off-duty officer at the K-Bob's restaurant in Tucumcari.

Justin Fisher, 28, was accused of assaulting Tucumcari Police Officer Christopher Valdez, according to a criminal complaint by Officer Max Farren.

According to the complaint, at 9:27 p.m. Nov. 18, Farren was dispatched to K-Bob's in reference to an officer in distress call.

He arrived and found Valdez wounded in the parking lot of the restaurant with Valdez pointing at another male lying on the pavement and requested he be placed in hand restraints.

Valdez told Farren that while he was eating at the restaurant, he was approached by the man later identified as Fisher. He said he had a previous encounter with Fisher while he was on duty.