Claudia L. Silva
The Santa Fe New Mexican
SANTA FE, N.M. — The girlfriend of a Santa Fe wildland firefighter who was killed in February 2019 in an Albuquerque apartment complex has been indicted on a count of first-degree murder and other charges.
Chrystyne Sanchez is accused of fatally stabbing 25-year-old Charles Christian Reid at the Chateau Apartments on Osuna Road Northeast, according to a motion filed in the 2nd Judicial District Court asking a judge to order her jailed until her trial.
Sanchez, 32, appeared for her arraignment remotely Tuesday from the Santa Fe County jail, where she has been held on unrelated charges involving a Home Depot robbery and chase. She is set to appear at the pretrial detention hearing Friday.
The document states Sanchez called 911 and told dispatchers Reid had broken into her apartment and stabbed her. When officers arrived, they found her with a cut on her arm and a trail of blood in the apartment that led to Reid’s body.
Reid was pronounced dead at the scene despite attempts to resuscitate him, according to the motion.
During an interview with detectives, Sanchez admitted she lied about the break-in and said she had been drinking with Reid when they got into an argument in the kitchen, the motion states, adding Reid pulled a knife from the knife block and asked her if she wanted to die.
She told police she then grabbed a pot and swung it at his head, hitting him multiple times before trying to take the knife away from him. She said she “cut” Reid near his shoulder before fleeing from the apartment.
Sanchez told detectives she was angry when she cut him and that the injuries she suffered were from brushing up against furniture or workout equipment in the living room — not from an attack by Reid.
An autopsy showed Reid had multiple stab wounds on his back and there were also “defects” on his backpack, suggesting he was wearing it during the stabbing.
Sanchez told police the fight began over a prior domestic violence incident, according to the motion.
Court records show Reid, a father of two and a member of Jemez Pueblo, was charged with criminal damage to the property of a household member, a misdemeanor, in January 2019. According to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, Sanchez claimed Reid had broken her car windows after becoming intoxicated. His his first court date was scheduled just a few weeks after he died.
Sanchez was arrested by Santa Fe police Sept. 12 after leading officers on a chase following an armed robbery at a Home Depot.
She is accused of attempting to ram the vehicle she was driving into a police car. She was eventually detained in front of Hotel Santa Fe.
Along with first-degree murder, Sanchez is charged with aggravated battery on a peace officer; aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer; receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles; tampering with evidence; and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer.
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