New charge filed in August slaying
Jan. 27—Alexandra Romero admits she shot and killed Javier Jimenez on Aug. 4.
She called police to report the shooting, claiming her longtime stalker and former friend had entered her house without permission. She said she was "terrified" of the man she said had previously threatened to kill her.
"I believe when all the evidence is brought to light, she was within her right to protect herself and her family from a known stalker," said Matt Chandler, Romero's attorney.
But prosecutors are not convinced the shooting was justified.
A Clovis grand jury last year indicted Romero for voluntary manslaughter. District Judge Ben Cross dismissed those charges on Jan. 18, ruling that she was denied her right to testify before the grand jury.
Now, she's been arrested again, charged Tuesday with murder.
"After a full review of the evidence, my office approved an arrest warrant," said District Attorney Quentin Ray. "The state will request a hearing to determine if she will be held in pre-trial detention and a preliminary hearing to determine if there is probable cause to proceed with the charges."
Police investigated the case for more than two months before presenting evidence to a grand jury that resulted in Romero's arrest on the voluntary manslaughter charge on Oct. 23.
Prosecutors in court documents said they found "inconsistencies" with Romero's initial statement about what happened.
"They claimed that the first time they charged her," Chandler said. "She had a lawful right to protect herself and her family from an intruder; it's justifiable self-defense."
Romero, 29, told police she had gone to her boyfriend's work and was returning home just before 10 a.m. on Aug. 4 when she heard music coming from inside a house she was making repairs on at 700 Dawn Loop in Clovis.
She said she armed herself with a pistol from the house she shares with her mother next door and returned to 700 Dawn Loop to find Jimenez sitting on a bed, court records show.
She said she fired two shots at Jimenez because "she was in fear of her and her children's safety." One of those bullets went through Jimenez's upper-left chest and exited through his upper-right back, investigators said.
Romero told police Jimenez had been arrested for trespassing at her home before and "she knew him to be armed with a knife and a machete. She did not observe him in possession of any weapons when she shot him but knew it to be common of him to be in possession of weapons."
She also told police Jimenez had recently been sending her messages "saying he wants her dead or she needs to be killed," records show.
Court records show Jimenez had been accused of trespassing on Romero's property multiple times.
The affidavit for arrest warrant filed Tuesday states "There were inconsistencies from Alexandra's statements and what was found on scene at 700 Dawn Loop."
One alleged inconsistency, the record states, is that Romero claimed she fired her gun just inside the back door. "However, standing at the back door, you cannot see inside the bedroom where Javier was shot."
Ray said the charge against Romero is an open count of murder, meaning a jury would have the option of finding her guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. Punishment ranges from life in prison to six years on conviction, depending on the charge, he said.
Online court records show Romero was being held without bond going into the weekend. Chandler said a detention hearing will be held in the next week or so.
"This has been extremely difficult on her," Chandler said.
"She's been put in custody twice on the same charges, removed from her family for over 75 days, and she wants to go home to her kids.
"Everything she did was reasonable — what a reasonable person would have done when finding an intruder in her house that had threatened to kill her in the past."
