Peñasco man will face trial for second-degree murder in cousin’s stabbing

A Peñasco man accused of stabbing his 22-year-old cousin will stand trial for second-degree murder after a magistrate judge rejected arguments Monday (Aug. 10) the charge against him be reduced to voluntary manslaughter. Manuel Leyba, 30, is accused of knifing Alex Vigil during an altercation June 19. After testimony from eight witnesses during a three-hour hearing Monday, Taos County Magistrate Judge Ernest Ortega advanced the case against Leyba to Eighth Judicial District Court, where it can proceed to trial.

The attorney representing Leyba, Stephen Aarons, asked Ortega during the preliminary examination to advance the case with a lesser charge, suggesting Vigil provoked the fight that led to his death.

Ortega said there was substantial evidence of aggression by Vigil. But he added lethal force was not warranted and that the evidence did not indicate sufficient provocation.

Testimony Monday suggested the events that led to the ultimately fatal altercation outside Leyba’s Camino de la Acequia Madre home began at another residence with an argument between Vigil and his then-girlfriend. Tysha Sandoval testified Monday Vigil spent much of the evening at her home before a disagreement. Sandoval said Vigil beat her during the argument, after which she called her mother, who later arrived.

Sandoval testified she left the residence with her mother, planning to leave Peñasco. The two women went to retrieve Sandoval’s 3-year-old child, who is the son of Leyba’s brother, James Leyba, Sandoval testified. But before leaving town, the young woman said they planned on taking the child to his father’s residence, where Manuel Leyba also resided. Vigil is said to have given chase in his car, purportedly running them off the road at one point. He allegedly pursued his then-girlfriend, her child and her mother to the Leyba residence.

Witnesses testified Manuel and James Leyba went to meet Vigil at the entrance to their driveway. James Leyba testified Vigil was belligerent, shouting obscenities and demanding to see his girlfriend. An altercation reportedly ensued but witnesses provided testimony Monday that in some instances differed from their statements to Taos County Sheriff’s deputies shortly after the incident. Deputy Eighth Judicial District Attorney Emilio Chávez noted Monday that James Leyba initially denied witnessing the altercation when interviewed by law enforcement.

James Leyba said Monday he saw the two men fight but disagreed with Chávez when the prosecutor recounted a statement in which he claimed to hear Vigil say “you stabbed me and I’m calling the cops.” Instead, James Leyba said Monday he was not aware Vigil had been stabbed or suffered serious injury during the incident. Vigil clutched his face, returned to his vehicle and drove at the brothers before speeding away, James Leyba said Monday.

Manuel Leyba did not testify. Law enforcement were unequivocal that Vigil was stabbed, however. Vigil is said to have driven from the Leyba residence to his mother’s home nearby, telling her only that he was dying before collapsing on the building’s front steps. Zack Wright, then a Taos County Sheriff’s deputy, recounted arriving at the home after a 911 call to find Vigil unresponsive with stab wounds to his left rib cage, a cut on his forearm and an approximately six-inch laceration across his face.

When Vigil’s mother suggested her son may have been injured at the Leyba residence, Wright said he drove to the home. There, the deputy measured an approximately 77-foot trail of blood along the road stemming from a puddle near the driveway. But everyone at the residence denied witnessing an altercation involving Vigil, Wright testified. Leyba had already left the home by the time law enforcement arrived shortly after midnight. It was not until a subsequent interview with a sergeant from the sheriff’s office that James Leyba recounted witnessing an altercation at the edge of the driveway. Sgt. Rick Romero testified James Leyba told him it appeared the men were boxing when Vigil exclaimed “you sliced me, bro.

Copyright Taos News. Reprinted with Permission