Farmington man held without bond after alleged motel stabbing

Stephen York, 31, of Farmington, was being held without bond after investigators said he stabbed Kalpesh Ken Patel outside the Encore Motel on East Main Street and then left the scene before police obtained a warrant.

According to the criminal complaint summarized in the reporting, York allegedly approached Patel at about 7:03 p.m. April 12 outside Room 114 at the motel, 1900 East Main Street, and stabbed him on the left side of the stomach. Two witnesses told police they saw York strike Patel in the stomach, and a third witness reportedly described York holding what she called a rusty knife.

Patel’s wound was described as about a half-inch deep and not life-threatening, but the case quickly moved from a motel confrontation to a felony arrest. York had been visiting his parents at the motel, the affidavit summary said, before the encounter escalated into violence.

Police took York into custody April 18 and booked him into the San Juan County Detention Center. Prosecutors then filed an expedited pretrial detention motion, asking that he remain jailed before trial on the grounds that his release would pose a danger.

Court records show the San Juan County District Attorney’s Office is relying on New Mexico’s pretrial detention rules, which allow a district court to hold a felony defendant before trial if prosecutors file the proper motion and prove by clear and convincing evidence that no release conditions will reasonably protect another person or the community. That authority grew out of the state’s 2016 constitutional amendment approved by voters.

The hearing on York’s detention is scheduled for May 5 in District Judge Stephen Michael Wayne’s courtroom in Aztec. York’s listed criminal history includes battery on a peace officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault and possession of a controlled substance, details prosecutors cited in support of keeping him jailed.

The Encore Motel has become a familiar name in Farmington police work. The 36-room property at 1900 East Main Street, listed with weekly rates, was also the site of a fatal altercation Jan. 11, 2024, when officers responded to a disturbance there around 1:11 a.m. Matthew Martinez died in that case, and Shane Jake John later became the defendant.

For San Juan County readers, the York case adds another serious violent-crime allegation to a location already tied to deadly conflict, with the next key step now set in Aztec before Judge Wayne.