Murderer gets 13 years in prison

A Tucumcari man was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison Thursday after a Quay County jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting of his friend that he claimed was an accident.

Joshua Braziel, 31, had been charged with first-degree murder and felony possession of methamphetamine after he shot Bryan Youman, 19, of Tucumcari in the head with a handgun on Sept. 4, 2020, after asking him whether he wanted to die that day. Braziel pleaded guilty to the possession charge after his murder conviction.

Before his sentencing, Braziel turned to Youman’s relatives in the courtroom gallery and tearfully apologized.

“I’m so very sorry for taking him way from you,” Braziel said. “I just ask for your mercy. … I’m just very, very sorry.”

District Judge Albert Mitchell listened to emotional victim-impact statements from Youman’s relatives.

Youman’s sister, Lanora LaPrath, questioned the claim that Braziel’s killing of her brother was an accident, noting no one offered aid to Youman immediately after the shooting.

“My brother was still breathing, and they just stood back and waited,” she said. “To have such disregard is disgusting.”

A victim’s advocate from the district attorney’s office read a statement from Youman’s mother Sharon: “I don’t understand why you killed my son. … I will never hear his voice again.”

Several other relatives and a childhood friend of Youman gave statements. Another relative in the gallery scheduled to speak became so distraught that she declined to give a statement.

Braziel’s uncle, Jason Braziel, apologized to Youman’s family and said his nephew deserved to be punished.

He acknowledged his nephew’s use of methamphetamine was a factor in the shooting but disagreed that he cannot be rehabilitated.

“Hopefully, in prison, he can better himself.”

Deputy District Attorney Heidi Adams urged the maximum penalty of 15 years for Braziel to “send a statement” about the reckless use of firearms.

“This kind of crime is inexcusable,” she said.

Public defender Anna Aragon, representing Braziel, asked he receive 10 1/2 years in prison with credit for his 644 days in the Quay County Detention Center. He also noted Braziel had no previous felony record, was a good employee and caused no problems during his incarceration.

“He will never get Bryan’s blood off his hands. … I’m asking for mercy from the court,” she said.

During his sentencing, Mitchell noted Braziel had no previous felony arrests and his sentencing wouldn’t be lengthened because the crime occurred before the New Mexico Legislature passed laws imposing tougher sentences for crimes involving firearms.

But he said “meth makes everything worse,” and the actions that occurred that day were “horrendous.”

On the murder count, Mitchell sentenced him to 15 years in the state Department of Corrections, plus two years of parole. On the possession charge, he sentenced him to a suspended term of 18 months in prison, with one year of probation.

Braziel was given credit for 644 days in the county jail, and he was ordered to continue his mental-health and drug rehabilitation treatment.

“As Bryan’s family pointed out, you have the opportunity to change your life,” Mitchell said to Braziel. “Hopefully, you don’t waste it. You’ll have a lot of time to think about it.”

Immediately after his sentencing, several officers from the sheriff’s department and jail stood between Youman’s family members and Braziel as he exchanged final words with his uncle and a hug from an older woman identified as his grandmother. Braziel then was escorted away.

Adams declined to comment, deferring to District Attorney Timothy Rose, who helped prosecute the case at the trial.

Rose stated in an email that Braziel never was offered a plea deal.

“A plea to murder in the first degree carries a mandatory life sentence and therefore there was no room for negotiation other than dropping the first-degree murder to second-degree murder which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years — something we were unwilling to do,” Rose wrote.

“The problem our New Mexico legislators refuse to address is the gross disparity between first- and second-degree murder with regards to sentencing,” Rose added. “There is often little factual differences between first-degree and second-degree murder. In fact, the difference usually is the ability to prove that a defendant carefully deliberated on or premeditated his murderous actions before doing so.

“Some, if not most, second-degree murders, like this one, should carry a more severe potential consequence than 15 years. Mr. Braziel admitted to intentionally putting a loaded handgun to the head of Brian Youman while he was sleeping, asking him if he was ready to die, and pulled the trigger. After many years of the district attorneys advocating the Legislature to fix this problem, the Legislature this year increased the possible sentence to 18 years. A mere three-year increase. This is unacceptable.”

A jury of seven men and five women earlier Thursday deliberated for a little more than 90 minutes to deliver a verdict. They had heard two days of testimony that included graphic photos of Youman’s wounds and police body-cam footage immediately after the shooting.

During closing arguments, Adams urged a verdict of first-degree murder. Placing a photo of Youman on an easel in front of jurors, she said the shooting was not an accident nor a case of “joking around.” She suggested Braziel might have shot Youman in jealousy after he hung around Braziel’s girlfriend, Kiersten Countryman, when Braziel wasn’t at home.

Adams said ammunition, meth pipes and meth were all over Braziel’s house, and Countryman testified Braziel had accidentally discharged a gun in a residence before.

“This all goes to the state of mind of the defendant,” Adams said. “Who says ‘Are you ready to die’ while pointing a firearm?”

Adams said George Molinas, who ran away from Braziel’s home after the shooting, acknowledged he wasn’t sure whether Braziel would shoot him, too. She also pointed to testimony from an Office of Medical Examiner official who said Youman’s contact-burn injuries, including on his skull, indicated they came from a gun pressed against his head.

Finally, she said Braziel said several hours into an interview with New Mexico State Police he admitted loading a magazine into a pistol that morning and “racked it,” or ensuring a bullet was in the firing chamber. That contradicted previous statements he didn’t know it was loaded.

Aragon urged the jury to reach a verdict of involuntary manslaughter. She said Braziel, Countryman and Youman previously had “joked around all the time” with the phrase “Are you ready to die?”

Aragon acknowledged Braziel “had no business with guns” and that meth users often exercise poor judgment.

“A rash impulse is not deliberate intent,” she said, refuting Adams’ argument for first-degree murder. She added Braziel and Youman had no problems with each other.

“There was nothing but friendship between Brian and Josh.”

Aragon said she wasn’t “100% happy” with the jury’s verdict.

“I really thought, at worst, he should have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter,” she said. “But given the other end of the spectrum of first-degree murder, I’m satisfied. The jury had a rough decision to make, and they split the baby. It was never going to be a ‘not guilty.’”

Rose expressed satisfaction with the verdict.

“I do appreciate and respect the jury’s verdict of second-degree murder,” Rose stated in an email. “First-degree murder requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Braziel carefully deliberated on his decision to do what he did. We knew this would be a difficult element to prove given all the facts of the case.”