Witnesses give emotional testimony during day one of Tai Chan murder trial
The jury heard from two witnesses during the first day of Tai Chan’s murder trial. The former Santa Fe deputy is accused of shooting and killing his colleague, Jeremy Martin, last year in Las Cruces.
Las Cruces Police Officer Connie Heard says she was one of thefirst officers to arrive on the scene at Hotel Encanto. She described seeing Martin face down, on the tile, with multiple gun shot wounds. Heard began crying on the stand as she recalled Martin gasping for breath, unable to speak.
“It would be a gurgling inhale and when he would exhale it was like he was trying to make sound but no words,” Heard said.
Another witness was a guest at the hotel. She told jurors she was woken up by gun shots.
“To my recollection I recall hearing the sound of gun shots and then hearing a male voice say something along the lines of, ‘get out of here’, followed by what sounded like another voice scream, followed by additional gun shots,” witness Cassandra Cano said.
The state says Chan shot at Martin 10 times. Five of those shots they say struck Martin in the back. The defense argues Chan was protecting his own life.
According to a criminal complaint, Chan and Martin were staying at an upscale hotel in Las Cruces after dropping off an inmate in Safford, Arizona.
Police say Chan and Martin got into an argument at a bar, when Chan told a friend they would catch a cab back to the hotel.
The criminal complaint states that at about 12:31 a.m., Oct. 28, the friend received a phone call from Chan’s girlfriend, Leah Tafoya, asking him to check on Chan.
The complaint states Tafoya said 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.
Officers found Martin bleeding profusely and drove him to Memorial Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Chan was fired from his position with the Santa Fe sheriff’s office.
