{"id":137985,"date":"2026-07-07T14:51:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/suspect-pleads-guilty-to-2024-double-homicide-in-bloomfield\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T15:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:02:20","slug":"suspect-pleads-guilty-to-2024-double-homicide-in-bloomfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/suspect-pleads-guilty-to-2024-double-homicide-in-bloomfield\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspect pleads guilty to 2024 double homicide in Bloomfield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Families
Families of Stoney Torres and Jessica Aragon interact with drivers July 7 at the intersection of Highway 516 and Oliver Avenue near the San Juan County 11th District Court in Aztec, as they protest the plea agreement given to Torres\u2019 and Aragon\u2019s killer Isaiah Brown. (Curtis Ray Benally\/Special to the Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A change of plea hearing in connection with an August 2024 double homicide ended with an emotional outburst Tuesday from the murder victim\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re dead! You\u2019re dead, Isaiah! You\u2019re not going to come out of prison,\u201d Laurie Aragon shouted as she rushed toward Isaiah Brown, who was being guided out of the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Her husband, Benjamin Salazar shouted, \u201cStreet justice!\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown, 23, admitted Tuesday to the Aug. 28, 2024, murders of Stoney Torres, 25, and Jessica Aragon, 28, at a home on County Road 4909 in Bloomfield, where Brown and Torres were in the middle of a drug deal.<\/p>\n

Brown also admitted that on Aug. 29, 2024, he shot at two police officers while attempting to evade arrest. That happened at a mobile home in Waterflow in the area of County Road 6693.<\/p>\n

In addition, Brown admitted that in October 2025, while being held in the San Juan County Detention Center he coerced a preteen girl to access and view pornographic material with him during video calls via FaceTime on a detention center tablet.<\/p>\n

Under the plea deal, Brown admitted to two reduced counts of second-degree murder, two counts of attempt to commit second-degree murder and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The charges were enhanced by the fact that Brown admitted to using a gun during his crimes.<\/p>\n

\"Laurie
Laurie Aragon, mother of Jessica Aragon, and her grandson Emiliano Jacquez protest July 6 outside the San Juan County District Attorney's Office in Farmington. They are against the plea deal given to Aragon's killer Isaiah Brown. (Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Aragon was unhappy with the plea and said she wanted Brown to go to trial and face two first-degree murder charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo allow Isaiah who committed this double murder to escape a jury trial and receive a reduced sentence is very unfair. It undermines the value of my daughter and my nephew\u2019s lives,\u201d Aragon told the court. \u201cI respectfully ask that you reject this plea. Allow this case to proceed to trial. Let the people decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aragon organized a July 6 protest at the San Juan County District Attorney\u2019s Office, 335 South Miller Drive in Farmington. She also started a change.org petition, asking the public to weigh in on the plea being offered to Brown.<\/p>\n

The online petition received 281 signatures as of July 7.<\/p>\n

Protesters also stood Tuesday outside the 11th Judicial District Court in Aztec, demanding \u201cNo plea deals for murder.\u201d They waved signs and shouted to passersby prior to the change of plea hearing.<\/p>\n

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Spinner told the court the plea deal was \u201cthe right decision, even if it isn\u2019t easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spinner expressed sympathy for the victims\u2019 families, saying they lost their children even through it was \u201ca drug deal that went wrong\u201d with confusion over who drew their weapon first.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if Stoney pulled his gun first, did he deserve to get shot eight times?\u201d asked Jody Gardner, the mother of Stoney Torres. \u201cStoney was there to make money, that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joey,
Joey, left, and Emiliano Jacquez, sons of slain Jessica Aragon, protest July 7 at the intersection of Highway 516 and Oliver Avenue near the San Juan County 11th District Court in Aztec, as they protest the plea agreement given to their mother\u2019s killer Isaiah Brown. (Curtis Ray Benally\/Special to the Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The affidavit for arrest warrant stated that the shooting was the result of an argument over $80 and fentanyl. Brown told investigators that Torres drew his weapon first.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, a murderer is gonna say he pulled his gun first,\u201d Gardner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJessica was an innocent bystander,\u201d Aragon said. \u201cStoney was a good respectful young man. He did not deserve to be shot so many times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown reportedly fired multiple shots emptying his clip into both Torres and Aragon.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son\u2019s life was stolen,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cMy family has received a lifetime sentence of grief. I somewhat understand the reasoning, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aragon told the court she used to be an optimistic person, but that changed in August 2024, when Brown introduced hate into her life. \u201cI hate August. I hate Wednesdays. My daughter and Stoney were murdered in cold blood that day. I hate the 28th of every month. I aspire to forgive, but I am not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Families
Families of Stoney Torres and Jessica Aragon interact with drivers July 7 at the intersection of Highway 516 and Oliver Avenue near the San Juan County 11th District Court in Aztec, as they protest the plea agreement given to Torres\u2019 and Aragon\u2019s killer Isaiah Brown. (Curtis Ray Benally\/Special to the Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

District Judge Bradley Keeler thanked the woman for speaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate the strength and courage it takes to come up and address the court today,\u201d Judge Keeler said, adding that he has thought about this case every day since it was added to his docket on March 25, when District Judge Stephen Wayne realized he knew Brown\u2019s family and recused himself.<\/p>\n

Judge Keeler said he has been \u201cthinking about the consequences, the trial, the defendant and the attorneys involved,\u201d and that included \u201cwhen the prospect of a plea arises. It can be very difficult to consider a plea. It can be difficult to accept considering the circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a judge, the only way for Keeler to reject a plea would be \u201cif the plea appears illegal or unlawful. I can also step in when the plea seems disproportionate \u2013 too harsh or too lenient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also pointed out that the plea provided a \u201cguarantee\u201d of conviction that would not be available should the case go to trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can sympathize with the victims\u2019 families. I don\u2019t see that there is a reason under the law to reject it,\u201d he said, accepting the plea.<\/p>\n

The agreement capped Brown\u2019s sentence at 30 years in the Department of Corrections, followed by 16 years of parole.<\/p>\n

However, Keeler did not proceed to sentencing and set an Oct. 6 sentencing hearing at the Aztec courthouse.<\/p>\n

dmayeux@tricityrecordnm.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victim\u2019s mother rushes killer, threatens death<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6300],"tags":[1240,1222,133,168,255,1820,969,3665,150,28,131,29,443,390,1829,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-137985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tri-cities","tag-aztec","tag-bloomfield","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-death-and-dying","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-drug-trafficking","tag-eleventh-district-court","tag-firearms","tag-headlines","tag-homicide","tag-newsletter","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico","tag-shooting","tag-tcr-trueanthem","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137992,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137985\/revisions\/137992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137985"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=137985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}