Man killed, woman raped

Gallup EMTs remove an injured man from a crime scene at 802 W. Maloney Wednesday, September 3. Two witnesses on the scene, Dakota Cook and Teo Deleo, identified the man as Duane Chavez but police say that what occured in the house is still unclear and the investigation is ongoing.— © 2008 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Philip Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — Two men are in jail for brutally beating a man to death and raping his girlfriend. The male victim, Dewayne Chavez, 34, who was listed in critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit of John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital in Phoenix Thursday evening, died early today.

His death upped the aggravated battery charge against brothers Milton Bryant, 25, and Larrison Bryant, 22, both of Sheepsprings, to an open count of murder. Whether first-, second-, or third-degree murder charges are filed is pending further investigation by Gallup Police and the district attorney’s office.

The Bryants are also charged with kidnapping — for allegedly holding Chavez’s girlfriend against her will — criminal sexual penetration, for raping her, and conspiracy; all charges stem from a crime sequence that took place Wednesday afternoon at 802 W. Maloney Ave. Details are still being pieced together by Gallup Police detectives.

According to Detective Matt Wright, Chavez, a resident of the Maloney address, was at home with his girlfriend, who is in her early to mid 20s, Wednesday afternoon. The couple were having a few drinks at home when the Bryant brothers came over, as friends, to join them.

According to Wright, an argument arose between Chavez and the Bryant brothers, and soon that argument turned violent and the Bryant brothers physically assaulted Chavez to the point where officers on the scene Wednesday stated candidly that his condition was grim. Police are still uncertain if the Bryants used any sort of weapon in their attack. Chavez was flown almost immediately to Phoenix for medical care.

At this point police believed one or both of the Bryants raped Chavez’s girlfriend.

“The physical evidence is all there,” Wright said. “But we are still waiting on positive DNA tests from the lab.”

Chavez’s girlfriend ran into the street and frantically hailed passing vehicles. She told at least one driver that she had been raped and that her boyfriend may be dead, according to Wright.

A passer-by observed a man running away from the Maloney residence and rounding the corner to head north up the railroad tracks. Police tracked the subject based on the caller’s description and found the Bryants in a field on Ninth Street behind Safeway.