Murder suspect dies in jail cell
Police: Man accused of torturing boy kills himself
SANTA FE — Accused child killer Thomas Ferguson was found dead in his jail cell Friday night after apparently hanging himself, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said.
SFCSO spokesman Juan Rios said a jail guard checked Ferguson’s cell around 10:47 p.m. Friday and saw that Ferguson was OK. The guard returned to the cell later and saw Ferguson hanging from either a towel or a bedsheet.
“At about 11:15 p.m., they did another check and that’s when they observed Thomas hanging from the rear window of his cell,” Rios said.
Life-saving measures were stopped around 11:45 p.m., Rios said, and the sheriff’s office was called to investigate. Rios said foul play is not suspected, but the investigation is going to include reviewing jail protocol for checking on inmates.
Jail Warden Derek Williams said in a statement through Santa Fe County spokeswoman Kristine Mihelcic that Ferguson, 42, was kept in a special management unit apart from the general population but was not on suicide watch.
Ferguson was recently indicted on 18 counts — including first-degree murder, kidnapping, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence — related to the death of 13-year-old
Jeremiah Valencia and had pleaded not guilty to the charges. SFCSO detectives believe Ferguson subjected Jeremiah to tortuous punishment and eventually beat him to death in late November. Ferguson then allegedly forced his adult son, Jordan Nunez, 20, and Jeremiah’s mother, Tracy Ann Pena, 35, to help dispose of the body in a shallow grave near Nambé.
Deputies began investigating Jeremiah’s death and found his body in January after Pena had spoken about it while she was in the Santa Fe County jail on a bench warrant. She and Nunez were also indicted in the killing and have pleaded not guilty.
“I am concerned that this happened while the defendant was in custody,” Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna told reporters at news conference Saturday afternoon. “I can tell you I’m angry that this happened, because I don’t believe Ferguson is going to receive the full justice that my office was going to bring against him to bring justice to Jeremiah, the family and to the people of northern New Mexico.”
Santa Fe District Court Judge T. Glenn Ellington in March found Ferguson guilty of absconding from probation, stemming from a 2014 kidnapping and sexual assault case. On April 11, Ellington ordered that Ferguson serve the remainder of his nine-year sentence in the Department of Corrections.
Serna said at the news conference that the order to send Ferguson to the DOC was filed in Santa Fe District
Court this week, but no records indicating that such an order was filed can be seen in online court records. Attorney General’s Office spokesman James Hallinan, who occasionally helps Serna with public information duties, told the Journal on Wednesday evening that Serna confirmed to him that the order was filed, but that Serna added that it is up to the court to post documents on online databases. Serna did not return a phone call late Saturday.
Serna wouldn’t say earlier Saturday if he believes Ferguson would have been under better supervision at a Department of Corrections facility. “He was in segregation, so I think precautions were taken,” Serna said. “Again, I can’t really speak any more on that.”
Serna said his office is going to continue to “vigorously prosecute” Nunez and Pena and said there are no plans to move them from the Santa Fe County jail.
“We’re going to focus our attention on them,” Serna said. “I wish we could have brought that justice to Jeremiah and his family by convicting Ferguson, but we’re not going to get that opportunity.”
The news of Ferguson’s apparent suicide happened the day the DA’s Office was holding the 6th Annual Child Abuse Awareness Event near the Capitol.
“It’s ironic that this happened on this day where we’re actually bringing awareness to the Santa Fe community ... to try to prevent acts like these from happening in the future,” Serna said.