Suspect accused of fatal stabbing claims self-defense

• Cecilia Trujillo, 24, is accused of stabbing 21-year-old Danell Jack Sunday night at a Bloomfield residence.
• Trujillo is accused of giving two different accounts of the incident to Bloomfield police.
• Trujillo's first appearance in court is set for Wednesday morning.

FARMINGTON — The suspect in a fatal stabbing Sunday in Bloomfield told police she was defending herself when she allegedly stabbed the 21-year-old female victim.

Cecilia Trujillo, 24, of Aztec, is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Danell Jack, of Bloomfield, after allegedly stabbing Jack twice in the neck, according to a copy of the arrest warrant affidavit.

San Juan County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O'Brien said Trujillo's first appearance in Aztec Magistrate Court is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

He added the District Attorney's Office is reviewing the facts of the case and Trujillo's history to determine if it's appropriate to file a motion for a no-bond hold.

Bloomfield police were dispatched to a residence in the 2100 block of East Blanco Boulevard around 6:20 p.m. Sunday on a report of an unattended death. Police were advised a woman was bleeding and not breathing.

When the officer arrived on a scene, a woman later identified as Trujillo was performing CPR on Jack, according to the affidavit. The officer then started to perform CPR on Jack and asked Trujillo what happened.

Trujillo replied, "(S)he came at me with a knife and I had to do it," according to court documents.

Medics arrived on scene and were unable to revive Jack. The affidavit states Jack had two lacerations on her neck.

When asked where the knife was, Trujillo told the officer it was wrapped in a grocery bag in an inside pocket of her jacket. The officer recovered the knife and secured it in his patrol vehicle.

Later that day, a scalpel-style knife with a plastic cover was discovered underneath Jack by a detective executing a search warrant on the residence.

Trujillo and two other people in the residence were transported from the scene to the Bloomfield Police Department, where they were interviewed.

A male and a female told the detective they were in separate bedrooms in the residence when the stabbing occurred, according to court documents.

The female said she heard what she described as a scuffle and exited the bedroom into the living room, where she saw Jack lying face down on the floor with Trujillo standing nearby.

The male told the detective when he approached Jack, he saw blood and called 911, according to court documents.

During an interview, Trujillo initially told the detective Jack hit her twice in her eyes and that she observed Jack holding an "exacto-knife," the affidavit states.

Trujillo also told the detective she then took the knife away from Jack and she "hit her back" and was not too sure what happened after that.

She also told the detective there was tension between her and Jack but could not recall the reason for the tension.

When the detective asked for additional details, Trujillo told him a different account of what occurred, according to court documents. Trujillo stated Jack hit her, and she responded by getting off the couch in the living room.

She told the detective Jack then stood up from the couch, and she believed Jack was going to hit her again, so she stabbed Jack. 

Trujillo added she did not know what happened from there but stated she went too far and got lost in the moment.

She was incarcerated this morning at the San Juan County Adult Detention Center.

Joshua Kellogg covers crime, courts and social issues for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.