Patricia Madrid, a 36-year-old Hispanic woman from Farmington, New Mexico, was at the center of a high-profile child abuse case in early 2025. She and her boyfriend, 59-year-old Jammy Jackson, were arrested on February 18 and faced multiple felony charges, including child abuse and conspiracy. They were accused of abusing Jackson’s 15-year-old daughter from November 2023 to September 2024.
The girl, who has autism, ADHD, and fetal alcohol syndrome, told her maternal grandmother that she had been forced to stand in a chicken coop from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, wearing a blindfold and earmuffs. She was allegedly exposed to extreme weather and insects and was sometimes whipped with a metal-studded belt. Text messages between Madrid and Jackson reportedly confirmed the mistreatment, with Madrid allegedly wishing the teen was dead.
Just over a week after her arrest, on the morning of February 26, 2025, Madrid was preparing for a court appearance in the child abuse case. At approximately 7:58 a.m., while sitting in her Ford Explorer outside her home in the 1100 block of North Auburn Avenue, she was shot. Emergency personnel transported her to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where she died from her injuries.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Farmington police released surveillance footage of a person of interest. The individual, dressed in a gray hoodie, was seen walking away from the scene before riding a bicycle east on Navajo Street. The investigation also revealed that Madrid had been receiving numerous threats online and in person since the child abuse allegations became public. Her own teenage daughter told police that some of these threats came from the girl's biological father, Mark Sandoval.
Following an extensive investigation, police identified a suspect. On March 28, 2025, U.S. Marshals and Farmington police officers arrested 40-year-old Matthew Lee Sandoval. He was identified as Madrid's former brother-in-law and the brother of her ex-husband, Mark Sandoval. Authorities charged him with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Sandoval made his first court appearance on March 31, and the prosecutor’s office filed a motion to keep him in jail until his trial, arguing he was a danger to the community. On April 10, Sandoval waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and his case was moved to the 11th Judicial District Court. As of August 2026, Matthew Sandoval was awaiting a weeklong trial scheduled to begin on December 7, 2026.
