New Mexico Man Gets Two Life Sentences for Killing Ex-Girlfriend and Her Teen Son
Jose Roman, 47, was sentenced to consecutive life terms for fatally shooting Carmen Navarette de Gonzales and her 15-year-old son after she refused to respond to 100+ texts.
Santa Fe Killer Sentenced to Life After Shotgun Attack on Ex and Her Son
Jose Antonio "Adrian" Roman, 47, will almost certainly die in prison after a Santa Fe judge handed him two consecutive life sentences Thursday for the November 2023 murders of his ex-girlfriend, Carmen Navarette de Gonzales, 46, and her 15-year-old son, Axel Gonzales. Law & Crime reports that 1st Judicial District Court Judge Jason Lidyard also imposed an additional 10½ years for related charges of shooting at an occupied building and aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon.
"This is one of the clearest cases of deliberate murder that has come before me in the eight years that I've been a judge," Lidyard said before delivering the sentence.
Because the court ordered every sentence to run consecutively — one after another — Roman must serve far more than 60 years before becoming eligible for parole.
More Than 100 Unanswered Texts
Roman and Navarette de Gonzales had dated for several years before she ended the relationship after he struck her. A restraining order filing quoted her directly: "He became my former partner the moment he hit me and I don't want to see him again." A temporary restraining order was issued in the domestic violence case just five days before the killings; a hearing had been scheduled for later that month.
As the days passed, Roman sent more than 100 text messages to his ex. She never responded. According to prosecutors, that silence pushed him to act.
Roman stole a shotgun from his own son, then drove roughly 60 miles from Albuquerque to Santa Fe — directly to Navarette de Gonzales's home on Prince of Peace, a street in the western part of the city. He arrived just as she was putting her children and grandchildren to bed.
Shooting at the Window, Then Inside the House
Roman fired through the bedroom window, killing Navarette de Gonzales. He then entered the house, located Axel's room and shot the teenager at point-blank range, according to testimony and evidence presented at trial.
A Santa Fe County jury convicted Roman in April on two counts of first-degree murder, shooting at a dwelling or occupied building, and aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon.
Defense: Intoxication Reduced Culpability
At sentencing, Roman's attorney pressed for concurrent rather than consecutive sentences, arguing the defendant was so heavily intoxicated — on a combination of alcohol and cocaine — that his culpability was diminished. Roman himself had never disputed pulling the trigger; his position at trial was that he acted without a clear plan, in the heat of the moment.
Judge Lidyard rejected the argument directly.
"I don't believe that you were too intoxicated to know what you were doing that night," Lidyard told Roman. "You were able to be in control of yourself well enough to drive all the way from Albuquerque to Santa Fe directly to the location of the individual whose life you had already threatened, and then got yourself out of the car with your loaded shotgun, made your way directly to her window and followed through with your threat."
The judge added: "You knew everything that was going on that night. You may have been cloudy because you were intoxicated, but you knew everything that was happening because you did exactly what you planned to do."
Victim's Mother Traveled From Mexico to Say Goodbye
In a victim impact statement delivered through a court translator, the mother of Navarette de Gonzales described traveling from Mexico to see her daughter one last time — "just to say goodbye to her in her coffin."
She also addressed Roman directly.
"I hope you — who had that bravery to kill them — now stand brave to receive this sentence," the translator rendered from Spanish.
The sentencing was reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Santa Fe Reporter.
Source: Law & Crime