Court records say White was gathering evidence before she was found dead in a rural SUV.
CLOVIS, N.M. — Friends and relatives remembered Ricki Lee White as fiercely loyal and independent as investigators accused an on-again, off-again boyfriend of killing her over evidence she had collected against him.
White, 38, was found dead May 12 in a white SUV on abandoned property in Roosevelt County, near the Texas line. Vincent Galvan, 38, is charged with first-degree murder in her death and also faces counts of tampering with evidence, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators say the evidence points to a killing rooted in a violent relationship, a folder of records and Galvan’s belief that White was trying to get him jailed.
Shawna Toussaint said White had lived much of her adult life on her own terms. Though technically cousins, Toussaint said they grew up like sisters, and she expected to be listed that way in White’s obituary. Toussaint said White had followed a friend to New Mexico after a breakup and was looking for a new start. White had spent time in eastern New Mexico and Farwell, Texas, over the past two years. Toussaint said she last communicated with White on May 3 and believed White’s relationship with Galvan was most recently off. “I know the police were called several times by Ricki for domestic situations with him,” Toussaint said.
Those calls are now part of the background investigators are using to explain motive. Court records describe White and Galvan as having a long, violent and unstable relationship. A person interviewed by police said the couple constantly fought and broke up. The same person told investigators the two had pulled guns on each other at a Farwell residence. Police records show White reported on Aug. 26, 2025, that Galvan had shot at her or damaged a tire. On April 25, 2026, she reported another domestic incident and said Galvan had burned down a camper she had been using. Investigators said not every dispute was reported to law enforcement.
The homicide investigation began with a tip on May 12. Roosevelt County deputies went to abandoned property on South Roosevelt Road 6 and found White’s decomposing body in an SUV. Sheriff Javier Sanchez said the scene was handled as a possible homicide, and the Major Crimes Unit processed the vehicle and surrounding area. Ninth Judicial District Attorney Quentin Ray later confirmed White’s death was a homicide. Authorities first sought Galvan and Mercedes Salazar as persons of interest. Salazar later told investigators she had loaned a cellphone to Galvan the night before the time police believe White was killed.
Investigators believe White was last known to be alive at 7:31 p.m. May 4, when she had contact with a family member. They believe she was shot between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. May 5. Police said the cellphone loaned to Galvan was tracked to the area of White’s death during that time. Inside the SUV, deputies found what an affidavit called “a folder with discovery proving … prior crimes.” Investigators said the folder appeared to support statements that White had been gathering records to use against Galvan with police. Authorities have not publicly said whether all the material in the folder had already been known to law enforcement.
Galvan was not arrested at the homicide scene. His capture came after a separate chain of events involving a stolen pickup in Clovis. Kip Defoor, a business owner, began looking for an employee’s stolen truck after the employee said he could not come to work. Defoor spotted the pickup on Mabry Drive and followed it. The driver fired several shots at him, authorities said. Defoor later told police the truck was headed toward Farwell. Officers found it abandoned near a restaurant, then learned Galvan was riding with Donnie Chancellor, a friend of White’s, in another vehicle. Police asked Chancellor to return to Farwell.
When officers stopped Chancellor’s vehicle, Chancellor got out, but Galvan allegedly moved into the driver’s seat and fled. The chase lasted about one minute before Galvan crashed. He ran briefly and was arrested. No one was hurt in the crash. Investigators said they later found a 9 mm pistol in the vehicle Galvan fled in. The gun appeared to have dried blood on the frame, and its caliber matched the projectile recovered from White’s body, according to the arrest affidavit. Police also tied Galvan to the stolen pickup through video from a Clovis truck stop, connecting the Texas pursuit to the New Mexico homicide inquiry.
In court records, investigators say Galvan told friends he killed White because she had been threatening him. They also cited a recorded jail call in which Galvan spoke to his mother after his arrest. He said he knew a friend was setting him up to be caught and said he had thought about getting out of the vehicle before police began pursuing him. Then, according to the affidavit, Galvan said “a part of me … felt I needed to be caught for this stuff.” The statement has become one of the central pieces of the case, paired with the physical evidence and witness accounts.
Friends said the legal filings do not capture all of White’s life. Ashley Hodges, who knew White for more than 15 years from Oklahoma, described her as complicated but loving. Toussaint wrote that being loved by White was selective and hard won. Those memories now sit beside a pending murder case that is moving through two states, with Texas charges first and New Mexico charges to follow.
Currently, Galvan remains jailed in Farwell pending the Texas case. Sanchez said he will be returned to New Mexico after that matter is resolved. No public court date for the New Mexico murder charge has been announced.
Author note: Last updated June 21, 2026.