System disconnect allowed 13-year-old’s beating death

The unfortunate history of the court system’s handling of Thomas Ferguson, accused of torturing and beating to death 13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia in November, needs some investigation. More precisely, there should be additional investigation, and this time by authorities who could try to ensure the same mistakes don’t happen again. Ferguson’s bob-and-weave through the court system raises numerous questions, including how often similar errors or omissions occur but are never exposed.

The Journal discovered something prosecutors and a judge never knew — in 2016, while Ferguson was on probation for domestic violence convictions in a Santa Fe case, he was convicted again, for beating another woman.

Santa Fe prosecutors knew about the second charge, this time in Rio Rancho, but say they were told the case was not moving forward and dropped an effort to revoke Ferguson’s probation. By the time Ferguson pleaded guilty to battery against a household member in the Rio Rancho case, it was too late, even if the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office had known about the plea.

So Ferguson remained free instead of serving any portion of the years in prison he could have been hit with for violating his probation. And his Rio Rancho plea — despite coming while he was on probation — netted only a slap on the wrist. He also appears to have suffered no consequences for failing to complete an assigned domestic violence program.

Instead, Ferguson established a new household, in Nambé. While he could have been doing prison time, he allegedly tortured Jeremiah, the son of his latest girlfriend. On Nov. 30, Ferguson allegedly beat Jeremiah, banged his head on the floor, then stuffed the “lifeless” boy into a dog kennel to die.

How did Ferguson avoid probation revocation that could have prevented the violence against Jeremiah? No one can explain it.

The biggest problem came after a Santa Fe prosecutor initiated a probation revocation proceeding against Ferguson after his Rio Rancho arrest. A recording of a court hearing in Santa Fe shows that a prosecutor told the judge it didn’t appear that the Rio Rancho battery case would proceed. The state and the defense agreed to downgrade that arrest to mere “negative contact with law enforcement,” and Ferguson’s probation was reinstated. Within weeks. he was back on the streets. But proceedings for the Rio Rancho beating charge were continuing. A few months later, Ferguson pleaded guilty there, but since the Rio Rancho case was already considered for a probation violation and rejected, it couldn’t have been brought up again, says the ex-Santa Fe prosecutor who was “shocked” to learn of the conviction recently.

The former Santa Fe prosecutor says she was told by someone from the Sandoval County DA’s office that it wasn’t going to pursue the Rio Rancho charge. The DA in Sandoval County doesn’t know what happened and says it should be in case notes in Santa Fe. The Santa Fe DA says there’s nothing in the notes.

And then there’s what happened after Ferguson pleaded guilty in Sandoval County. Being on probation for prior offenses didn’t hurt him much. He got credit for the 60 days he had already spent in jail and was mandated to serve 304 days out of jail but under the county’s Misdemeanor Compliance Program.

Sandoval County court personnel were aware of Ferguson’s prior case in Santa Fe. A court order says Ferguson’s requirement of participating in a 52-week domestic violence program was to run concurrently with his pre-existing Santa Fe probation.

Last year, Ferguson received an “unsatisfactory discharge” for failing to complete required treatment or the domestic violence program. Despite those failures, the case was closed and a note on online records says “all obligations met.” No one can say why. Another chance to put Ferguson back behind bars before Jeremiah was killed had passed.

Nothing can bring Jeremiah back. And it’s true prosecutors, public defenders and judges all typically face huge case loads that can allow cases to fall through the cracks. But someone in authority needs to investigate how all of this went down. Nominees include the state District Attorneys Association, the Administrative Office of the Courts or the attorney general. This is a mess that really needs to be cleaned up. Before the next Jeremiah.