SANTA FE, N.M. – A New Mexico woman is charged with two counts of murder after she falsely claimed to be the victim of a kidnapping and carjacking, and subsequently leading police in a pursuit that ended with a violent collision, killing a Santa Fe police officer as well as a retired firefighter, according to law enforcement authorities.
Jeannine Jaramillo, 46, faces two counts of murder in the first degree as well as other charges in the deaths of Santa Fe Police Officer Robert Duran, 43, and retired firefighter Frank Lovato, 62.
Shortly after the fatal crash on March 2, the Santa Fe Police Department said in a press release, “At 11:06 a.m. a kidnaping in progress was reported to the Regional Emergency Dispatch Center at the Rancho Vizcaya Apartments. A male armed with a knife was taking a vehicle occupied by a woman.
“Soon after at 11:14 a.m. SFPD located the vehicle near Sawmill Road and St. Francis Drive. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle and the driver fled in the vehicle,” Law Officer reported.
New Mexico State Police concluded that Jaramillo was not kidnapped and that she was the driver and sole occupant of a previously stolen automobile during the chase that turned deadly.
Officer Robert Duran of the Santa Fe Police Department and retired firefighter Frank Lovato both died in the crash. (Screenshot KRQE)
The following is an overview of their investigation:
On March 2, 2022, at around 11:30 a.m., the New Mexico State Police, was asked to assist in a pursuit involving the Santa Fe Police Department and a suspect involved in a kidnapping and carjacking that had just taken place at around 11:00 a.m. in Santa Fe.
State Police learned that Santa Fe Police Officers initiated the pursuit with a white Chevrolet Malibu near Sawmill Road and St. Francis Drive. The pursuit continued to Interstate 25 where the suspect drove in the wrong direction, traveling south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 25. Near milepost 286 just north of Old Pecos Trail a crash occurred involving at least 5 vehicles, two Santa Fe Police patrol units, Malibu, two uninvolved vehicles, a pickup truck, and a blue car.
A Santa Fe Police officer identified as Officer Robert Duran, 43, of Rio Rancho, NM, and the driver of the pickup truck identified as retired Las Vegas, NM firefighter Frank Lovato, 62, of Las Vegas, NM suffered fatal injuries and died in the crash. They were pronounced deceased on the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator. The driver in the blue car was transported for non-life-threatening injuries. The events of that crash are still under investigation by the New Mexico State Police Uniform Bureau and New Mexico State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit.
After the crash, a female who identified as Jeannine Jaramillo 46, of Albuquerque, NM, told officers she was the kidnapping victim. Jaramillo exited the white Chevrolet Malibu and was placed in the back seat of a Santa Fe Police Department Unit. She was later transported to a local hospital, where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later released. According to Jaramillo and witnesses, an unidentified male subject fled the area on foot. He was described only as wearing a red shirt, black pants, and a black jacket.
Through the investigation, Investigations Bureau agents learned the Chevy Malibu was reported stolen from Las Vegas, New Mexico on February 28, 2022. The owner of the vehicle was warming up the Malibu and left the key fob in the vehicle at the time the vehicle was stolen. The key fob for the Chevrolet Malibu was located in the back seat of the Santa Fe Police vehicle Jaramillo was placed in after the crash.
The New Mexico State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit executed a search warrant on the Chevrolet Malibu. Officers extracted data from the vehicle’s computer which the data showed only the driver seat was occupied at the time of the crash with the white truck.
Jaramillo’s DNA standards along with the driver’s airbag from the stolen Malibu were submitted to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Crime Lab for comparison. The Crime Lab’s report concluded the major DNA profile on the airbag matched with Jeannine Jaramillo’s DNA profile.
On March 5, 2022, at approximately 1:28 p.m., State Police agents were able to locate and successfully arrest Jeannine Jaramillo without incident in Albuquerque.
Jaramillo was booked at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center. She is facing the following charges:
- Two counts of murder/vehicular homicide
- Receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle
- Aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer
- Evidence tampering
After the double fatality occurred, yet prior to her arrest on Saturday, Jaramillo told KOB that her boyfriend kidnapped her at knifepoint. He also had a gun, she said.
The woman claimed she blacked out during the crash and that she did not remember how the boyfriend escaped.
However, Jaramillo has been accused of blaming a boyfriend at least twice for crimes she committed in the past, according to KOB. In one incident, she alleged that a man held her at knifepoint during a police chase. Police did not discover any boyfriends.
Meanwhile, Officer Duran’s family and friends are mourning his death. He and his wife Kathleen Duran have two sons, Law&Crime reported.
“After much thought and prayer, Robert chose to become a police officer with the City of Santa Fe in 2015,” she wrote in a statement through the Santa Fe Police Department. “It was not an easy decision, and we knew there were risks, especially in this day and age where officers are sometimes targeted at random simply for being law enforcement. It was also a period of time where law enforcement was under scrutiny, and the nation is still calling out for reform. He had always considered law enforcement as a career but did not want to risk not being here for his boys. It came down to preserving a future for our children that compelled him to take a leap of faith and follow his heart. If good people who care about the safety and development of our communities are not willing to stand up and take risks to make our world a better place, then what hope is there for our society and our children?”
Lovato was running errands when he was killed, KOB reported. He retired from the fire department in Las Vegas, New Mexico in 2006 as an engineer.
Lovato’s former colleagues said he was selfless, down to earth, and the definition of a public servant, according to the news outlet.
