Son may have played a role in beating death
SANTA FE — A new search warrant affidavit filed in state District Court in Santa Fe suggests that Jordan Nunez played a role in the beating death of 13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia, who was killed in November at a Nambé house.
Thomas Ferguson is facing first-degree murder charges in Valencia’s death. But Ferguson’s 19-yearold son, Nunez, may have participated in the killing, according to Facebook messages made before authorities knew about Jeremiah’s death or before anyone had been charged in the case.
In one message, Nunez says everyone looks at him differently “like I did it all by myself.” He insists “they did it,” too, and that what he did was an accident.
Ferguson, 42, who is charged with murder and 17 other counts in Jeremiah’s death, sent a message to Nunez that said Nunez “got rid” of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah’s mother, Tracy Ann Pena, 35, and Ferguson’s son Nunez have been charged with child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence but have not been charged with murder.
Previous court documents quoting other members of the household say Ferguson beat Jeremiah to death at the house in Nambé around Nov. 26 and forced Pena and Nunez to help dispose of the body.
The three were charged in late January after Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office deputies began investigating Jeremiah’s death when Pena, in jail in mid-January on other charges, talked about the death while incarcerated. Jeremiah’s buried body was found Jan. 28.
Police investigating the case obtained Nunez’s cellphone, according to a recent affidavit, and began looking through Facebook Messenger exchanges between Nunez and Ferguson from early January. They found a Jan. 7 message that suggests Nunez may have taken part in the beating and/or caused Jeremiah’s death.
A detective says in the new affidavit released Monday that one of Nunez’s messages “indicates that he was involved in the beating.”
According to the affidavit, Nunez wrote in a message to Ferguson: “I’m just unwanted here and that’s cool but I can see in yours and Tracy’s ... eyes you all don’t want me here ever since that (expletive) happened and they look at me like I did it all by myself they did it to and what I did was an accident I never meant to do that I miss that (expletive referring to a person, apparently Jeremiah) to I feel bad for what I did and if I could do things differently I would of but I can’t I have nightmares and (expletive) I think about that kid everyday cause I looked in his eyes as he left I see that look everyday.”
Nunez had previously told detectives that Ferguson carried out the fatal beating and even demonstrated for detectives how Ferguson turned Jeremiah upside down and slammed his head into the floor two or three times.
“Jordan’s last message indicates that he was involved in the beating of Jeremiah and that he withheld this information during his previous interviews,” SFCSO Detective Ernest Alderete wrote in the new affidavit.
Ferguson sent a message to Nunez that says Nunez “got rid” of Jeremiah, according to the affidavit. Ferguson wrote, “Jordan the trouble makers gone you got rid of his ass and now you are actually starting to get like him.”
SFCSO spokesman Juan Rios wouldn’t comment Monday on whether deputies now believe Nunez killed or helped kill Jeremiah.
When Ferguson and Pena were arrested on bench warrants on unrelated charges Jan. 17 by a Santa Fe Police Department officer — before law enforcement knew of Jeremiah’s death — Pena’s 13-yearold daughter Adriana, who is Jeremiah’s younger sibling, was left in Nunez’s care.
“Ms. Pena was caring for her 13-year-old daughter who was with her 19-year-old brother who took possession of Ms. Pena’s daughter and the vehicle they were travelling in,” SFPD Officer Jacob Martinez wrote in a report of their arrest after they were spotted in a south Santa Fe shopping center area.
Authorities said in January that the daughter had been placed in foster care.