Jurors Monday were deliberating the case against a Santa Fe man accused of killing a preschool teacher who was trying to stop him from beating his girlfriend.
Thirty-one-year-old Adrian Gonzales is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery in the December 2011 stabbing of 21-year-old Victoriano "Mo" Moises Byrne-Gonzales and another man at the Butterfly Springs Mobile Home Park in Pojoaque. He's also charged with battery for assaulting his then-girlfriend, Natasha Romero.
Prosecutors say Byrne-Gonzales was trying to do the right thing when was he stabbed in the neck while attempting to stop Gonzales from beating Romero.
Defense attorneys say Gonzales was only responding to "two bullies" who tried to take the law into their own hands. Gonzales testified Friday that he and stabbed the men in self-defense.