'Without the family’s consent': Furious loved ones of murdered man flip off deputies, rip prosecutors for plea deal struck with killer brothers

Left: Tyler Chaffin. Right: Eli Chaffin (San Juan County Sheriff’s Office)

A New Mexico judge sentenced two brothers in a 2022 murder after an argument over a car.

Court records show 25-year-old Tyler Chaffin pleaded no contest to second-degree murder while 21-year-old Eli Chaffin pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 37-year-old William Johnson. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a home shortly after noon on July 24, 2022, for a gunshot victim. When they arrived, they found Johnson dead.

Witnesses told deputies they saw a white SUV pull up to the home and two men get out and shoot Johnson to death. Detectives obtained surveillance video from a neighbor’s home that corroborated testimony about the SUV and linked the vehicle to the Chaffin brothers, deputies said. Prosecutors charged the brothers with first-degree murder . In addition, cops arrested 23-year-old Sierra Collins with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. She was previously in a relationship with Johnson and owned the car the Chaffin brothers were looking at, according to deputies.

Prosecutors and the Chaffins came to a plea deal to lower the charges to second-degree murder for Tyler and involuntary manslaughter for Eli. Judge Curtis Gurley sentenced Tyler Chaffin to 15 years in prison and the younger Chaffin to six years behind bars. Both will be under probation for two years after their release. According to a courtroom report from the Tri-County Record , the plea deals upset Johnson’s family who accused the San Juan County Prosecutor’s Office of accepting money to accept the plea.

“When you shoot someone in the back, I don’t know how you get more intentional than that,” the victim’s mother, Penny Johnson Jones reportedly said.

Johnson’s former wife Lacey Dillingham reportedly said the deals were “a slap in all of our faces” and “outrageous.”

“These pleas were offered to Tyler and Eli without the family’s consent, without telling anyone,” she said, according to the outlet.

Judge Curtis Gurley reportedly said there was nothing untoward about the plea agreements and any suggestion that the deals involved money was “uncalled for.”

“I am sorry you feel that way, but I can assure you nothing like that took place,” Gurley reportedly said.

Eli Chaffin claimed he shot Johnson in self-defense. He said he was in the car when he heard a gunshot and he saw Johnson reaching for a firearm so he shot him.

One of the Johnson family members flipped off deputies after leaving the courthouse, the Record reported.

Collins’ case remains ongoing. She has a court hearing scheduled for Monday.

The post ‘Without the family’s consent’: Furious loved ones of murdered man flip off deputies, rip prosecutors for plea deal struck with killer brothers first appeared on Law & Crime .