Teen charged with murdering JB White takes stand in his own defense
May 16—The Santa Fe teenager charged with murder in the shooting death of lauded high school athlete Fedonta "JB" White took the stand in his own defense Monday, telling jurors he fired the fatal shot because White was chasing him and he was afraid.
Estevan Montoya showed little emotion as he testified on the incident, saying he fired on White after a brief verbal exchange over a dispute between two other teenagers at a house party in Chupadero in August 2020.
"He didn't even let me finish what I was saying," Montoya said of White. "He was already lunging off the porch, throwing a power punch," he added under direct examination from his defense lawyer, Dan Marlowe.
"I remember when he threw the punch I leaned back to, like, dodge his punch, and when it went by, I could feel, I could see his strength, his force, his speed that he had, "Montoya said. "And I knew that if he would have landed that punch ... I knew that punch would have knocked me out or broke my jaw, maybe broke my teeth. And I got scared, so I took off running.
"He started running after me, and by the time I was almost to the end of the fence, I could hear him closing in on me, and I could still feel him, like, right behind me," Montoya said. "I was running out of room. There was no way I could have jumped the fence with him right behind me.
"The only option I had was the gun," he continued. "And so I had the gun in my left pocket, and I pulled the gun out, and I chambered it with my right hand. I glanced back, and right when I glanced back I seen him still swinging. He was, like, in motion and swinging. I like arched my back so it wouldn't hit me and when I seen him, I shot at him to stop him."
Montoya was the final witness to testify during the evidence portion of his trial, which began May 4. Marlowe rested his case following Montoya's approximately hourlong testimony.
Prosecution and defense lawyers were scheduled to make closing arguments Monday afternoon before turning the case over to the jury for deliberations.
White as 18 at the time of his death and had just graduated from high school a year early in order to join the University of New Mexico basketball team in the fall.
Montoya, now 18, was 16 when he shot White.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
