Ex-Santa Fe sheriff’s deputy indicted on 1st degree murder in colleague’s shooting death

The former Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputy accused of killing his colleague was indicted in a Las Cruces courtroom Thursday.

Tai Chan, 27, is now charged with first degree murder.

Authorities say Chan shot and killed fellow deputy Jeremy Martin, 29, at a Las Cruces hotel.

The two men were staying there after dropping off an inmate in Safford, Arizona.

Moments before the shooting, witnesses say the men got into a fight at a bar.

Chan was fired from his position with the Santa Fe sheriff’s office last week.

Chan pleaded not guilty to the then-open count of murder charge at his arraignment last week.

Chan didn’t react much when Judge Kent Wingenroth ruled last week he would not be granting Chan bond at this time.

The judge said more information from the investigation was needed before setting anything.

Chan appeared in court with his attorney, John Day, via closed-circuit video from the Dona Ana Detention Center.

Chan’s family were in the courtroom and were silent and somber during the hearing.

The family did not comment after the hearing.

“I’ll let the facts play out,” Third Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said last week when asked to comment on the case. “As you know, these kinds of murder investigations, there’s tons of forensics information that are vitally important. I want to make sure every interview, every witness is interviewed. I’m goin to give the police all the time they need to conduct a proper and complete investigation. I’m very confident the police will do that.”

Day said that their own investigation is showing things differently than the criminal complaint.

“The facts we’ve learned in our initial investigation are significantly different than those outlined in the document filed by the police investigators,” Day said last week. “I would caution anyone who’s using that as a basis, making decisions about this case prematurely.”

ABC-7’s I Team obtained the criminal complaint filed against Chan. It reveals more details about what happened the night he allegedly shot and killed Martin.

Here is a timeline of events, according to the criminal complaint.

According to the document, while in Las Cruces Chan contacted a friend, Joshua Sexauer, at about 8 p.m. Oct. 27 about meeting up for some beers.

Sexauer and another friend picked up Chan and Martin at Hotel Encanto. Sexauer told police later that Chan and Martin had already been drinking.

They all went to Dublin’s restaurant where Chan and Martin continued to drink and got into a heated argument, even pointing fingers at each other, according to the criminal complaint.

The document does not state what they were arguing about.

Sexauer said in the criminal complaint that he had never seen Chan become hostile like that before and that the bartender even had to separate them at one point.

Sexauer left the bar with Chan telling him they would catch a cab back to the hotel.

At about 12:31 a.m., Oct. 28, Sexauer received a phone call from Chan’s girlfriend, Leah Tafoya, asking him to check on Chan.

Tafoya told Sexauer that she was on the phone with Chan when she heard someone yell “please don’t, please don’t” before hearing gunshots.

Las Cruces Police officers arrived at Hotel Encanto after receiving several 911 calls about shots being fired and a wounded man in the lobby. The wounded man was Martin.(Editor’s Note: Listen to the 911 calls by clicking on the link under Related Content to the left of this article)

Officers found Martin bleeding profusely and drove him to Memorial Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Officers combing the hotel for a suspect when they heard Chan announce himself to them in the stairwell, adding that he had a gun. They ordered him to put his hands up and surrender and he complied.

He was found on the landing to the hotel’s roof with a semi-automatic glock where he was.

Chan told a Las Cruces Police officer, “I shot the guy,” and that the person was his friend, according to the criminal complaint. Police noted that Chan smelled of alcohol and was slurring his words.

Officers found blood stains in room 711, the room Chan and Martin were checked into and also found several bullet strikes and shell casings inside and near room 711, as well as on the 7 th floor.