Brief fight allegedly led to fatal stabbing

• Ronnie Garcia is accused of murder in the second degree and a third-degree felony count of tampering with evidence.
• Court documents reveal new details about the alleged homicide.
• Garcia's preliminary hearing is set for the morning of Oct. 31 in Farmington Magistrate Court.

FARMINGTON — A Farmington man accused of murder allegedly got into in a fight with the victim at a Farmington gas station, leading to the suspect allegedly stabbing the victim.

Ronnie Garcia, 40, is accused of murder in the second degree and a third-degree felony count of tampering with evidence, according to court records.

Garcia is accused of stabbing 24-year-old Dion Debarry, of Farmington, in the chest with a knife and disposing of a jacket with red stains on it, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

He did not have legal representation this morning.

Court documents reveal new details about the alleged homicide.

Officers for the Farmington Police Department were dispatched around 1:25 a.m. Monday to the Giant Gas Station at 3001 Bloomfield Highway on a report of a man having been stabbed.

Officers found Debarry with a stab wound, and he was unresponsive. He was transported to the San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he died due to his injuries.

A man later identified as Garcia was last seen running west toward the Rimrock Lodge at 2530 Bloomfield Highway, the affidavit states.

A female witness identified as Debarry's girlfriend was interviewed at the scene.

She said she and Debarry were driving west on the Bloomfield Highway when she observed her relative Garcia walking with a woman. They turned around and picked up Garcia and the woman, driving them to the gas station

The witness stated Garcia and Debarry got into a verbal argument as they exited the vehicle. It allegedly turned into a physical fight as they threw punches at each other. During the fight, the witness said she saw a knife on the ground with blood on the blade.

She did not tell officers in her statement that she picked up the knife, but a detective observed her in video surveillance footage pick up an object.

The witness stated Debarry started to walk back to the vehicle and then collapsed.

Garcia allegedly confronted the witness and became aggressive as he asked for the knife. The witness stated she gave him the knife, and Garcia left the scene.

The affidavit states that when a Farmington detective reviewed the video surveillance footage from the gas station, he saw Garcia allegedly drop the knife within the opening seconds of the fight, which may have lasted about 10 seconds.

An employee at the gas station told police he heard Garcia "angrily say, 'He came after me first,'" according to court documents.

The footage showed Garcia was allegedly wearing a gray hooded jacket, black pants and white shoes. A gray hooded jacket with red stains was located in a trash bin at the Rimrock Lodge by an officer.

Officers learned Garcia was staying in a room at the motel after speaking with management. The suspect was taken into custody around 12:53 p.m. Monday following a standoff that lasted more than three and a half hours.

The San Juan County District Attorney's Office filed a motion to hold Garcia without bond pending trial.

A hearing is set for Thursday morning in Aztec District Court, according to San Juan County Chief deputy district attorney Dustin O'Brien.

Garcia's preliminary hearing is set for the morning of Oct. 31 in Farmington Magistrate Court.

He was being held without bond 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.