A Farmington woman accused of desecrating a grave and damaging Catholic church property has been given probation and the potential to earn a conditional discharge.
Annaleta Bedonie, 19, pleaded guilty May 5 to a single charge of criminal damage to property and one count of battery on a peace officer. She was sentenced July 28 by 11th Judicial District Judge Curtis Gurley.
Bedonie’s charges stem from a June 5, 2025, incident at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. During church, the woman caused $2,098 in damage to a columbarium, which holds the remains of cremated individuals, and to church property.
She was captured on video using a large rock to smash the glass door of the church’s family center. Once inside, Bedonie turned on three burners on the stove and burned paper, according to an affidavit for arrest warrant.
Bedonie then used another rock to smash the marble plates of the columbarium and an urn containing cremated human remains, the affidavit said.
After being arrested and being held in the San Juan County Detention Center on June 12, 2025, Bedonie hit a jail officer with a food tray, causing the officer’s nose to bleed heavily, according to the affidavit.
Competency was raised and Bedonie was taken to the state mental hospital, where she was treated to competency.
“I do believe there was a substance abuse problem that caused the competency issue,” Defense Attorney Tyson Quail told the court. “She has been participating in the Rise program and doing well. Ms. Badonie has been using her time wisely while in custody.”
Quail said prior to the woman’s June arrest, Bedonie did not have a criminal record. He asked the court to “give her the opportunity to prove herself.”
Bedonie asked the court for probation instead of the three years in the Department of Corrections, which she was facing for the charges.
“I think you should give me 18 months of probation,” Bedonie said. “I proved to myself and the jail that I’m competent enough.”
The San Juan County District Attorney’s Office agreed to probation and the opportunity for a conditional discharge.
Judge Gurley sentenced Badonie to 18 months in the Department of Corrections for each charge but then suspended the sentence in favor of 18 months of supervised probation.
“You are not to violate federal, state or local laws,” Gurley told Bedonie, and said that if she successfully completes probation and does not receive any other criminal charges within the next two years, he will grant her a conditional discharge, which means her record would be clean.
Reader Comments