A man stabbed a minor when he thought the young man was making fun of his taste in music.

On May 13, around 6:52 pm, Gallup Police Officer Cindy Romancito was on duty when she met two men on the side of the road near Chaparral Mobile Home Park, 1501 W. Aztec Ave.

One of the men was holding his stomach. The other man explained that the man had been stabbed.

According to her criminal complaint, the 17-year old victim told Romancito that he got into a fight with another man about music.

That man, Jeremiah Pete, 25, had accused the victim of making fun of his music, and the two men duked it out in the living room of a trailer home.

As the fight went on, Pete allegedly retrieved a knife and stabbed the victim in the side. After he stabbed him, Pete got off the victim. The young man said Pete had used a long knife with a black handle.

Another man helped the victim walk out of the trailer, and they’d been walking up the street about to call the police when they ran into Romancito.

The victim said he was having a hard time breathing, and Romancito told him to do recuse breathing and to continue to put pressure on his wound. An ambulance was dispatched to the scene.

The witness that was with the victim when Romancito met up with them, told the officer he was in the kitchen cooking dinner when he heard some banging. Next, he went to see what was going on, and discovered the two men fighting. He explained that he tried to break up the fight, but he’d recently had surgery so he couldn’t intervene.

Additionally, the witness said pictures were falling off the walls during the fight. He saw Pete get off the victim, go into a corner of the room, and bring out a black object, which the man recognized as a knife.

The witness said he tried to stop Pete, but the man blocked his hand and stabbed the victim.

After the victim and the witness gave officers a visual description of Pete, they were able to find him at Viro Circle Park.

Pete was charged with aggravated battery and child abuse because the victim was 17 years old. He also had multiple outstanding warrants. His preliminary hearing was on May 25.

Staff Reports