Nehemiah Griego drops name change
Still awaits ruling on murder sentence
The man who admitted killing five members of his family at age 15 has abandoned his effort to change his name.
Nearly four months after 21-year-old Nehemiah Griego first filed documents seeking a name change, he voluntarily dismissed the case April 3, according to court records.
Griego killed his parents and three young siblings in their South Valley home in January 2013. He initially was sentenced as a child and scheduled for release on his 21st birthday, but the Court of Appeals overturned that determination March 9.
Now his case is in limbo as he awaits a second amenability hearing, where a judge must reconsider whether Griego should receive an adult or juvenile sentence.
Matthew Bernstein, who represented Griego in his name change effort, wrote that a new name would help him in “avoiding unnecessary recognition.” He filed additional requests seeking to seal documents and hearings on the issue.
Griego abandoned his name change attempt the day before the Attorney General’s Office filed a request to intervene. In an accompanying motion, the AG’s Office argued, among other things, that sealing the name change documents would “undermine important public safety objectives.”
On Monday, the AG’s Office filed a motion to withdraw its earlier motions, writing that the dismissal rendered those requests moot.