Taos County man arrested in girlfriend's fatal shooting
Sep. 30—A Taos County man accused of strangling his girlfriend in June was arrested Thursday on suspicion of fatally shooting her.
Jeremiah Rael, 31, is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of 44-year-old Brandi Davis, whose body was found by a neighbor's grandchildren outside a home in Talpa where the couple had been living together, court records show.
Davis' death comes nearly three months after the previous charges against Rael were dropped.
New Mexico State Police said in a news release Friday investigators discovered there was a history of domestic violence between the couple.
An arrest warrant affidavit for Rael said the grandchildren of Davis' neighbor were riding their bicycles Thursday in the small community of Talpa, just a couple of miles southeast of Ranchos de Taos, when they saw Davis lying on the ground. The children found she was unresponsive and immediately alerted their grandfather, according to the affidavit.
The neighbor called state police, and officers who responded determined Davis had been shot in head, the affidavit said. Davis had been staying at the home with Rael, the man said, according to the affidavit. At least one other neighbor confirmed that.
Police found surveillance video from the area, and audio from the footage indicated two gunshots were fired around 3 p.m., according to the affidavit. Police also saw a man fleeing the area.
Rael turned himself in to the state police office in Taos around 9 p.m. Thursday, state police said in the news release. He chose not to speak with officers about Davis' death and was booked in the Taos County jail.
State police spoke with Rael's mother Thursday, the affidavit said. She told officers her son had called and asked her to pick him up at SMU-in-Taos, a branch of Dallas' Southern Methodist University with a campus in Ranchos de Taos. She dropped him off in Vadito, the mother said. She added she had told Rael not to explain what was going on because his young son was in the vehicle.
She also told police Rael had been fighting with Davis constantly over the past year, according to the affidavit.
A criminal complaint filed against Rael on June 10 in Taos County Magistrate Court said Davis had told state police a day earlier her boyfriend had strangled her in the parking lot of the Ohkay Hotel Casino north of Española.
Rael had hit her and stolen her cellphone following an argument, Davis said, and then he drove to the casino. She confronted him there and took back her phone, the complaint said, but Rael strangled her until she could not breathe and felt as if she were going faint.
Rael was charged with aggravated battery against a household member, battery, interference with communication and driving with a suspended license. But the counts were dismissed in July at Davis' request, records show.
State prosecutors filed a request in court Friday seeking to have Rael held in jail until his trial.
