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Gallup Police make arrests in two stabbing cases

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Gallup police investigated two stabbings on March 1 that were connected to each other.

Patrolman Jeremy Shirley said he was dispatched to Allsup’s on Arnold Street about 10 pm in connection with a reported stabbing.

When he got there, he found Zachery Lee bent over, holding his chest. He said he had been stabbed. Shirley said he saw a stab wound to Shirley’s right chest area as well as another on the side of his face.

Lee said he had been jumped by three men as he was walking to see his girlfriend. He said they took his phone and were looking to take his money as well but he ran away. He then gave Shirley a description of the three men.

Before he could begin a search, he learned that police were holding three men on Vito Circle in connection with another stabbing.

When he went there, he found police officers holding someone who matched the description of the person Lee said stabbed him. Jayce Moquino, 15, of Gallup, did have a knife and blood stains on his jacket.

Shirley said he called juvenile authorities and said he was charging Moquino with aggravated battery and needed to have someone transport him to the juvenile center in Farmington. He was told no officers were available so Moquino was released to his parents.

In the other stabbing, Gallup police officer Terence Peyketewa said he was dispatched to Virgo Circle in connection with a stabbing.

When he got there, he found Ronald Parada, 16, laying on the sidewalk covered with blood. He had been stabbed in the ear and the stomach. A witness said he had been stabbed at the skatepark.

Witnesses said that a man by the name of Deshawn Yazzie, 18, of Gallup, had approached Parada and started yelling about selling coke. He began waving a knife around and reportedly stabbed Parada twice.

Police were given a description of Yazzie and he was found along with Moquinio and another man a little later. He was placed under arrest for aggravated battery and tampering with evidence.