Suspect charged in fatal shooting during graduation party
Authorities say a 46-year-old man was shot and killed during his son’s high school graduation party last weekend at a home in Tucumcari.
Tyje Garrett, 42, is charged with an open count of murder in the May 28 death of Michael Arellano, 46. Garrett was dating the teen’s mother and both men shared a child with her.
He was caught in Logan and booked into the Quay County Detention Center.
Authorities said multiple people witnessed the shooting, including Arellano’s 18-year-old son who was celebrating his high school graduation with friends and family.
Prosecutors have filed a motion to detain Garrett until trial, call- ing him a flight risk with a history of arrests on assault, weapon and drug charges. Garrett’s attorney could not be reached Tuesday.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Magistrate Court:
Police responded around 9:45 p.m. to a shooting near Cemetery and Quay County Road 63 in Tucumcari. They found Arellano shot several times, surrounded by bullet casings, and he died at a hospital.
Multiple people told police Garrett and Arellano had been drinking and arguing for hours at the graduation celebration. A few of them, including Arellano’s son, saw the fight escalate into a shooting.
The teen told police he had invited his father to his graduation party, and Arellano soon confronted Garrett for “looking at him a certain way.” He said that led to them getting into a dispute, and the teen asked his father to “stop his behavior.”
The teen told police he was upset and wanted “to be alone for a bit” and walked toward a nearby cemetery. He said as he walked back he saw the two men near the open gate of the cemetery.
The teen told police he heard “bam, bam, bam, bam,” and ran to his father’s side as Garrett drove away. He said Garrett had a rifle and had fired it earlier “as a celebration thing” during the party.