Police still seek gun used in slaying
Santa Fe basketball star shot dead at house party in August
The Santa Fe County Sheriff ’s Office is still searching for the gun used to kill Fedonta “JB” White.
The 18-year-old Santa Fe High School basketball standout was set to play for the University of New Mexico before being shot and killed at a house party in August in Chupadero.
Estevan Montoya, 17, is charged with first-degree murder in White’s death, along with tampering with evidence, unlawful carrying of a handgun by a person under 19 and negligent use of a deadly weapon.
His defense attorney, Dan Marlowe, told sheriff ’s office investigators Montoya had “pitched” the gun while leaving the scene, according to a search warrant affidavit Detective Roy Arndt filed last month in state District Court. The warrant was for the home of Guadalupe Arevalo, a local teen authorities identified as a friend of Montoya’s through Facebook conversations.
Police already have searched Montoya’s home three times, the affidavit said.
While executing two search warrants in September on another teen who authorities believe fled the house party with Montoya, investigators found a Taurus 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, later determined to be stolen, the affidavit said. In October, the teen, identified only by the initials “E.A.,” was charged with possessing a stolen firearm.
Police tracked the stolen gun’s serial number and determined it belonged to a Santa Fe woman who was unaware the gun had been taken, the affidavit said. When the woman checked her car in early October, she discovered the Taurus 9 mm was missing, along with a Ruger .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun, which she said she had last used in April or May.
Investigators said they found spent .380 casings in the driveway of the Chupadero home after the shooting.
While executing search warrants on Montoya’s Facebook account, investigators found conversations in which he was trying to sell multiple guns, according to the affidavit.
They also searched the Facebook account of the teen with the initials E.A. and believe they found group conversations with photos of Montoya holding a firearm that could match the stolen .380 and one that resembled the 9 mm found in E.A.’s possession, the affidavit said.
On another social media account, the document said, investigators found a picture E.A. had posted of Arevalo holding a gun that also could be the stolen .380.
Investigators executed the search warrant on Arevalo’s home Feb. 9 and took a .40-caliber gun, a pellet gun, two cellphones and some clothes — but not a .380, documents show.
In a phone interview Monday, Marlowe accused the sheriff ’s office of a “fishing expedition.”
“There is no doubt Estevan is the one who fired the shot,” he said, “but they’re trying to get him convicted of first-degree murder. They don’t have depraved mind, and they don’t have premeditation, so the chief investigator thinks he’s going to find the jackpot in Facebook.”
Last month, Marlowe accused state prosecutors of trying to block him from gathering evidence by naming everyone with a connection to the case as a witness for the state. He filed a motion asking the court to exclude the state’s witnesses and to release Montoya as a sanction for the prosecutors’ actions.
Marlowe also filed a motion in December asking the court to move Montoya’s trial from Santa Fe to Los Alamos.
Marlowe contends White’s reputation as a hometown hero and the publicity surrounding the case would make it impossible for Montoya to receive a fair trial in Santa Fe.
A state district judge delayed a hearing on the motions last week.