Pecos man accused of killing brother

Oct. 27—A Pecos man is accused of fatally shooting his brother during a dispute early Thursday morning outside his home in the mountain community.

Calvin Leroy Quintana, 45, was booked in the San Miguel County Jail on a second-degree murder charge in the death of 42-year-old Gabriel Quintana.

Charging documents filed in San Miguel County Magistrate Court say Calvin Quintana called emergency dispatchers early Thursday and told them he had shot his brother, who he said was trying to enter his home.

The incident and the 911 call occurred sometime after 2 a.m.

When New Mexico State Police arrived, they found Gabriel Quintana dead on the porch stairs.

Calvin Quintana told state police his brother had been staying in a travel trailer on the property, which belongs to their mother, after recently returning from a rehabilitation center for substance abuse disorder, a criminal complaint states.

He didn't want to let his brother inside his home because Gabriel Quintana had recently tested positive for COVID-19, he said.

His brother banged on the windows of the house and requested a heater, Calvin Quintana told police.

He retrieved his 9 mm handgun after Gabriel Quintana began throwing rocks at his Jeep, he said, according to the complaint. He fired one shot from the doorway of the house, intending to shoot his brother in the knee, but instead struck him in the abdomen, Calvin Quintana said.

"Calvin said when Gabriel attempted to come in his residence, he told him, 'I will shoot you,' " a New Mexico State Police officer wrote in the complaint. "Gabriel responded to Calvin, 'No you won't.' "

Calvin Quintana initially refused to put down his gun, the officer wrote. He told police he was unsure where his brother was and believed he might have run off after being shot.

The two had been arguing, he said, and he thought Gabriel Quintana had been holding something in his hand, although he didn't know what it was.

"When the New Mexico State Police officers told Calvin that was not a good enough reason to shoot Gabriel, Calvin said, 'If Gabriel would have got in, he would have beat the [expletive] out of me,' " the criminal complaint states.

Calvin Quintana later told the officer "if he could do it all over again, he would have just kept the house secured and called law enforcement," the officer wrote.

During a virtual arraignment Friday, San Miguel County Magistrate Philip Leger set conditions for his release that include a $500,000 cash bail. Another hearing is scheduled Tuesday to review the release conditions.

A public defender representing him did not return messages seeking comment.

Relatives of the Quintanas could not be reached for comment.

Calvin Quintana has never been convicted of a violent crime, according to a public safety assessment filed in the murder case. His brother had been convicted of several violent offenses in recent years.

Gabriel Quintana pleaded guilty in August to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and vehicle theft and was sentenced to four and a half years of probation. The conviction stemmed from a January incident in which another Pecos man said Gabriel Quintana had shot him and taken his car, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

In January, the brothers' mother, Olivia Quintana, filed for a domestic violence protective order against Gabriel Quintana, alleging he was taking things out of her house to sell and that he was on drugs.

The case was dismissed, with a judge noting the allegations did not constitute "domestic abuse."