Dispute at school leads to woman's arrest

A Tucumcari woman was arrested and jailed after being charged with a felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and misdemeanor assault on a school employee.

Crystal McKinney, 36, was detained and booked into the Quay County Detention Center after an incident last week at Tucumcari Middle School, according to online court documents.

The delinquency count is a fourth-degree felony that can result in 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

According to an affidavit filed by Tucumcari Police Cpl. Matthew Lopez, police were called to the school on Sept. 26 to investigate alleged threats against a school official.

TMS Principal Lendall Borden said he had to stand between McKinney and cheerleading coach Jolene Marroquin during a dispute over jerseys and a girl’s dismissal from the team.

“Crystal kept interrupting and getting angrier,” Borden stated. Borden stated McKinney told the girl to punch Marroquin in the face, then said she would do it instead. She also told the girl to beat another cheerleader and “that she would take care of Jolene.”

Marroquin wrote in a statement the girl was being dismissed from the team because she was ineligible.

Lopez wrote “there is sufficient evident that Crystal McKinney threatened Jolene Marroquin in a manner where she believed she was going to receive an immediate battery.”

McKinney made her first appearance Friday in front of Magistrate Judge Noreen Hendrickson. She was released on a $6,000 unsecured appearance bond and ordered to not return to the school.

It wasn’t clear whether McKinney had an attorney.

McKinney is married to the cousin of Tucumcari Public Schools superintendent Aaron McKinney.