Editor’s note: The Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) “enables access to public records of governmental entities in New Mexico,” according to the New Mexico Department of Justice. Public Records Watch is an occasional series from The Santa Fe New Mexican that documents how public agencies respond to IPRA requests.
Police have been sparse on details regarding two downtown shootings in recent months and have still provided no reports from their investigations of either incident.
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Alvin Crespin enters a plea during a hearing in 2023 in the First Judicial District Court. He was shot to death April 25 in De Vargas Park.
Records staff from the city of Santa Fe have estimated it will take two months to provide any police reports related to the fatal shooting of Alvin Crespin at De Vargas Park in late April. The city also has yet to provide any reports on another fatal shooting in early May in downtown Santa Fe.
A man was charged with shooting and killing Crespin at the downtown Santa Fe park April 25, and a woman was accused of conspiring in the homicide and acting as a getaway driver. Police arrested the suspects, Pierre Cheykaychi and Alexis Chavez, in the week after the shooting.
A request for police reports related to the investigation was submitted April 28. Records staff have estimated they will be able to produce the reports June 27.
City staff have pushed back the expected date to provide the reports twice, deeming the request for police reports in a single murder investigation “excessively burdensome or broad,” a designation that allows city staff to take longer than 15 days to produce records in response to a request.
Little is still known about the shooting death of Raven Iron Lightning Scott on May 12 in downtown Santa Fe — including whether Scott’s death was a homicide. Police have declined to answer questions about the fatal shooting, including those seeking details about the circumstances of his death.
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Raven Iron Lightning Scott
Scott died from his injuries from at least one gunshot wound, police said, and he was found at a city-owned parking lot at Water Street and Don Gaspar Avenue in the early hours. Police have not filed any criminal charges in the shooting.
The New Mexican submitted a request for reports from the death investigation May 22. After 12 days, city records staff have not given an estimated date for producing the records.
City spokesperson Regina Ruiz did not respond to an email seeking an explanation for the delays in providing the public records. Deputy police Chief Ben Valdez wrote back Tuesday saying he would check on the requests with the city’s records staff.