Clovis man pleads in 2015 slaying

CLOVIS — A man slated to face trial for first-degree murder charges will spend six years in prison after accepting a plea agreement Thursday.

Jonathan Cruz, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the second degree and one count of tampering with evidence involving a crime of murder in the second degree.

The charges are connected to the 2015 death of Joseph “Jo Jo” Chavez.

Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover said Cruz will serve a maximum penalty of six years in the Department of Corrections.

“I believe that the plea, while not what I preferred, was just,” Stover said.

Stover added the investigation into the death of Chavez will continue as he had evidence to believe another suspect might be involved.

Cruz was represented by Anna Aragon and Herman Chico Gallegos.

“None of these cases are easy on anyone,” said Gallegos. “There are a lot of moving parts to a case like this. This plea agreement represented and reflected the evidence and some of the evidentiary challenges of the state. Both sides were prepared for trial. We had a good handle on the case and the evidence.”

“My client has been adamant he never had a knife,” said Aragon. “While he was involved with the whole altercation that night, he was not the one with the knife.”

Aragon said the deal reflects a good compromise on the part of the defense and the state.

“They say that the evidence of a good deal is when neither party is happy,” said Aragon. “I think it was a good meeting in the middle.”

Chavez, 39, was found by police March 7, 2015, lying in the front yard of his girlfriend’s brother’s home with “a bleeding penetration wound to the upper left chest,” a press release from the Clovis Police Department stated. He was taken to Plains Regional Medical Center where he died the next day.

Police identified four “persons of interest” that weekend but none were charged.

They quietly arrested Cruz in August that year, making no public announcement.