A judge rejected Jose Antonio “Adrian” Roman’s intoxication argument and imposed two life sentences plus another 10½ years.

SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico man convicted of killing his former girlfriend and her teenage son after driving from Albuquerque to their Santa Fe home has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms, a punishment the judge said reflected one of the clearest cases of deliberate murder he had encountered on the bench.

Jose Antonio “Adrian” Roman, 47, was sentenced by 1st Judicial District Court Judge Jason Lidyard after a Santa Fe County jury found him guilty April 22 of two counts of first-degree willful and deliberate murder in the November 2023 deaths of Carmen Navarrete de Gonzales and her 15-year-old son, Axel Gonzales. Roman was also convicted of shooting at a dwelling or occupied building and aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon. Lidyard added 10½ years for those crimes and ordered all of the sentences to run one after another rather than at the same time.

The consecutive structure makes the sentence especially severe. The life terms carry the possibility of parole only after decades in prison, and Roman must serve the sentences in sequence. First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies described the punishment as the maximum allowed in the state case. Lidyard said before imposing it that the evidence showed planning and purposeful conduct rather than a sudden act committed by someone incapable of understanding what he was doing. The judge focused in particular on Roman’s travel from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, his possession of a loaded shotgun and his arrival at the home of a woman who had previously accused him of threatening her.

Roman’s defense had urged the court to impose concurrent sentences and again raised his use of alcohol and cocaine on the night of the killings. His lawyers argued during the case that intoxication affected his state of mind and undercut the prosecution’s claim that the shootings were deliberate. Lidyard rejected that position at sentencing. He said Roman had maintained enough control to travel roughly 60 miles, reach a specific residence and carry out a series of actions the judge viewed as consistent with a plan. Roman did not dispute that he fired the shotgun, but the defense challenged the state’s account of his intent and portions of the prosecution’s reconstruction of the shooting.

The killings followed the end of Roman’s relationship with Navarrete de Gonzales and a period in which she had sought court protection from him. In a petition for a protective order filed shortly before her death, she described prior violence and said she did not want further contact with Roman. The First Judicial District Court issued a temporary no-contact order days before the Nov. 13, 2023, shootings. A later hearing was expected to determine whether longer-term protection would be granted, but Navarrete de Gonzales and her son were killed before that hearing could take place.

According to evidence and reporting from the case, Roman continued trying to reach Navarrete de Gonzales after the relationship ended, sending more than 100 text messages that went unanswered. Prosecutors used those communications as one part of a broader timeline they said showed escalating anger and deliberate conduct. Investigators also determined that Roman obtained a pump-action shotgun belonging to his son before traveling north from Albuquerque. Authorities were alerted that Roman was intoxicated, had taken the gun and might be going to Navarrete de Gonzales’ home.

The shooting occurred at a residence on Prince of Peace in western Santa Fe on the night of Nov. 13. Authorities said shots were fired at the home before Roman entered the property. Trial evidence placed Navarrete de Gonzales in her bedroom when she was killed and showed that Axel also was shot inside the house. Other relatives, including children, were present during the violence and survived. Law enforcement officers arrived within minutes of emergency calls, and Roman left the immediate area before he was arrested two days later.

Roman’s defense disputed portions of the prosecution’s reconstruction. At the start of trial in April, his attorney told jurors Roman had fired through windows and argued that the state could not establish every part of its account about what happened inside the home. Prosecutors presented evidence they said showed Roman entered the residence and went farther into the house after shooting Navarrete de Gonzales. The jury ultimately accepted the state’s contention that both killings were willful and deliberate, returning guilty verdicts on the two first-degree murder counts and the additional burglary and shooting charges.

The prosecution also relied on events preceding the killings to establish Roman’s state of mind. Navarrete de Gonzales had described Roman as her former partner when she sought legal protection and alleged that he had assaulted and threatened her. Prosecutors emphasized the sequence: the relationship ended, a temporary order was issued, Roman repeatedly attempted to contact her, he obtained a shotgun and the shootings followed days later. Lidyard cited the broader sequence when explaining why he was not persuaded that Roman’s intoxication prevented him from acting deliberately.

The case followed a complicated path before reaching the 2026 trial. In 2024, state prosecutors temporarily dismissed the murder charges while saying they intended to refile after additional case preparation. Roman remained jailed and separately pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawfully possessing a firearm. The state prosecution later moved forward again, eventually resulting in the April 2026 trial and convictions. The delay changed the schedule of the case but not the prosecution’s central allegation that Roman intentionally traveled to Santa Fe after the relationship deteriorated and killed Navarrete de Gonzales and Axel.

Axel’s death drew an immediate response from students at Capital High School, where he was a sophomore. Friends gathered after the killings to remember him and described him as someone who supported people close to him. His classmates held a balloon release in Santa Fe while the criminal investigation was still in its early stages. Their remembrance unfolded years before a jury would hear the evidence and before the court would decide what punishment Roman should receive.

Family members also addressed the court before Roman was sentenced. Navarrete de Gonzales’ mother had traveled from Mexico after the killings and later confronted the deaths of both her daughter and grandson through the criminal proceedings. At sentencing, her remarks were translated for the court as she called on Roman to face punishment for the two deaths. Her statement shifted the proceeding from arguments about legal standards and prison terms to the losses behind the convictions.

Lidyard ultimately rejected the defense request for concurrent punishment and imposed the two life sentences one after another, followed by the additional term for the related crimes. His decision reflected both the jury’s finding that the murders were deliberate and his own assessment that Roman’s conduct before and during the shootings showed sustained decision-making despite his drug and alcohol use. The sentence means Roman faces decades of incarceration before the possibility of release could become relevant under the individual life terms.

Roman is now serving the state punishment imposed after nearly three years of investigation, pretrial litigation, dismissal and refiling of charges, trial and sentencing. The verdicts resolved the central questions presented to the Santa Fe County jury, while the consecutive sentences resolved the defense request that punishment for the two deaths overlap. Any further challenge to the convictions or sentence would proceed through available appellate or post-conviction processes.

Author note: Last updated October 17, 2026.