Second suspect in jail murder faces new charges
A second man accused of killing a San Miguel County jail inmate faces new charges of possessing deadly weapons and attempting to escape. In December, another of the seven men charge with first-degree murder in the 2021 death of Eric L. Vigil was charged with similar offenses.
Daniel J. Magallanes Jr., 22, was charged last week with three new felony charges stemming from an investigation that began Jan. 26 after a search of Magallanes’ cell.
Corrections officers at the San Miguel County Detention Center conducted the search after finding damage to the walls and a light fixture inside the cell. After the “shake down” of the cell, officers recovered “several metal bars that were part of the light fixture” along with damaged Plexiglas from the fixture, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Magistrate Court.
Officers with the Las Vegas Police Department joined SMCDC officers in a search of the cell and located damage to the ceiling of the shower area and to the south wall of the cell, according to the affidavit.
Officers believe Magallanes had been using bars from the light fixture to dig out portions of the wall, and a corrections officer witnessed Magallanes crouched in the back of the cell “hitting the wall with a small piece of metal from the light fixture in his right hand,” according to the affidavit.
During the search, officers also located two pipes “with apparent burn marks,” along with “several pills,” according to the affidavit.
Police allege Magallanes had broken four metal bars from the light fixture, and that one larger bar was bent and sharpened on one end.
When corrections officers asked Magallanes and his cellmate — 19-year-old Joaquin W. Richardson, a co-defendant in the murder case — to hand over all the pieces of the light fixture, Magallanes gave officers two pieces, and Richardson retrieved another piece from the toilet, according to the affidavit.
Magallanes is charged with possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner, attempt to escape from jail and criminal damage to property. Richardson was not facing new charges related to the incident as of this writing.
In December, 25-year-old Conrad J. Atencio, who is also charged in Vigil’s death, was charged with two counts of possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner and one count of attempt to escape from jail.
Atencio was being transported to a medical appointment when corrections officers allege he opened the door to the transport vehicle and pleaded with officers to let him run, according to an affidavit filed in Magistrate Court last year. The case has been sent to District Court for trial, but a trial date has not been set.
Magallanes, Richardson and Atencio are three of seven men charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the Nov. 1 beating death of Vigil. The case was transferred to District Court Jan. 27 for trial, but no trial dates have been scheduled.
Magallanes remained in custody at SMCDC as of this writing.
