Farmington man charged in shed killing after body found in West Animas Street

A Farmington man with prior arrests now faces second-degree murder and tampering with evidence charges after police found Cecil Jim’s body in a shed in the 600 block of West Animas Street.

Brian Peshlakai, 52, was arrested in connection with the death of Jim, 64, of Farmington. Police said Jim’s body was discovered Monday in a shed Peshlakai had been using for shelter. An affidavit for an arrest warrant said Jim suffered blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation.

Investigators said Peshlakai’s friends alerted the Farmington Police Department after finding the body. A Speedway receipt dated May 1 was recovered from the shed, and video from the business allegedly showed Peshlakai there that day. Police later found Peshlakai on Tuesday at the Broadway Bridge on Scott Avenue and brought him in for questioning.

In a statement to police, Peshlakai allegedly said he had a confrontation with Jim on Saturday, that Jim punched him and injured his lip, and that he held Jim for about 20 minutes out of anger while squeezing tightly until Jim stopped breathing. He also allegedly said he tried CPR, then moved the body into the collapsed shed to keep it warm and removed Jim’s belongings to another shed.

Peshlakai was booked into the San Juan County Detention Center. The San Juan County District Attorney’s Office then asked the court to keep him in custody pending trial. Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Decker argued in the motion that Peshlakai acted out of anger and posed an ongoing risk to the community if released.

Peshlakai appeared May 13 in Farmington Magistrate Court, and the case was transferred to the 11th Judicial District Court. A motions hearing had not yet been set.

The killing lands in a county already marked by repeated violence. San Juan County law enforcement agencies reported 11 homicides in 2024, matching the total from 2023. Farmington police responded to six of those killings last year, compared with five in 2023. The region has also endured the May 2023 mass shooting in Farmington that killed three women and the Aug. 28, 2024 double homicide near Bloomfield, cases that still shape how residents view public safety and the urgency of the court’s next custody ruling.