An unhoused man, known to frequent downtown Farmington, has been charged with second-degree murder.
The Farmington Police Department served Fidel Curtis, 26, with a June 19 warrant in the San Juan County Detention Center, where he was being held on a probation violation for having a methamphetamine pipe on his person, when he was brought in for questioning in connection to the homicide.
Curtis was sentenced May 19 to 10 years in prison, but District Judge Curtis Gurley suspended the sentence for five years of supervised probation after Curtis entered a plea agreement admitting to charges of larceny, three counts of burglary of a vehicle, non-residential burglary, unlawful use of a credit or ATM card, theft of a credit card, criminal damage to property and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle.
Just 2½ weeks later, on June 6 Curtis reportedly stabbed and killed Jacob Sharp under the Broadway Bridge in downtown Farmington.
Sharp collapsed at 1:34 a.m. atop the Broadway Bride near the intersection of Broadway and Wagner Avenue. He was stabbed in the stomach, and the wound “penetrated approximately four to five inches striking the aorta,” causing significant internal bleeding that led to his death, according to the autopsy.
Farmington Police investigated the stabbing by interviewing witnesses and reviewing footage using the department’s Real Time Crime Center.
The video footage reportedly showed Curtis and Sharp around 1:26 a.m. walking together and “going into the dark, underneath the bridge,” according to the affidavit for arrest warrant.
At 1:33 a.m., the video shows Sharp “running out from under the bridge,” and then up to the street level, “where he collapses and dies from his stab wound,” the affidavit said.
One minute later, at 1:34 a.m. the video captured Curtis walking down the Riverwalk “away from where (Sharp) had been stabbed,” and he is “seen making the sign of the cross with his hand while walking quickly westbound along the Riverwalk,” the affidavit said.
Police reportedly obtained more video of Curtis at 5:18 a.m. June 6, at the Farmington Indian Center, where he was viewed changing out of the clothing he was wearing during the alleged stabbing.
He was viewed placing the clothing into a garbage can and “attempting to start the contents inside on fire,” according to the affidavit for arrest warrant.
Police picked him up at 6:22 a.m. June 6, and brought him to the department for questioning.
During questioning, Curtis denied being at Berg Park during the time of the stabbing, telling police he was asleep on “the bed” near a wash in Brookhaven Park, which is off of West Apache Street, on the other side of Farmington, the affidavit said.
Curtis reportedly admitted to police that he changed his clothing, saying it was the “only thing that was dry,” and he said he found the new clothes in the trash at the Indian Center, the affidavit said.
When police continued to ask about his clothing, Curtis asked for a public defender, and the interview ended.
Curtis was arraigned on the probation violation June 22, and his attorney John Gillen waived a reading and entered a denial to the charges.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Dekcer said his office will file a motion for pretrial detention hold to keep Curtis in jail until his trial.
A preliminary hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. July 1, in Farmington Magistrate Court.