Authorities keep murder suspect’s new location secret
Herrera, accused of fatally shooting five people, transferred after trying twice to escape from jail
The location of a young man accused of fatally shooting five people, including three family members, in a June 15 rampage across Northern New Mexico became a secret Thursday.
Early in the morning, authorities whisked Damian Herrera away from the Rio Arriba County jail in Tierra Amarilla, where last month he managed to lock a guard inside his cell before wandering off into the booking area and attacking another guard with a
flashlight. That incident, captured on surveillance video, was his second attempt to escape the jail.
An earlier attempt, in which Herrera was caught in the jail’s kitchen, prompted Rio Arriba County officials to request his transfer because he was “a danger and a menace to our jail,” Sheriff James Lujan told The New Mexican in late July.
Miles Conway, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union in New Mexico, which represents corrections officers, said some guards thought the jail in Tierra Amarilla, a tiny community near Chama, could not handle an inmate such as Herrera because the facility lacks staff, policies and training. But it’s unclear where Herrera was taken. A notation on the jail’s website says the 21-yearold Ojo Caliente man was released at 7:54 a.m. Thursday. That appears to be the only public record of his transfer. Attorneys and other officials involved in Herrera’s case declined to comment or didn’t respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for the local jail and the state prison system said he wasn’t in their custody. His name isn’t listed in online records at other area jails.
Asked about the transfer Thursday, Lujan said, “That is under seal; I can’t tell you.”
The secrecy surrounding Herrera’s whereabouts raises public safety questions in a state that recently has seen several violent offenders and suspects escape custody. And on Wednesday, three inmates at the Penitentiary of New Mexico south of Santa Fe were charged with attempted murder and other felony counts in what police say was a planned attack on a prison guard.
After Herrera’s arrest, a prosecutor urged a county magistrate to hold him without bond, citing public safety concerns.
“He successfully fled three murder scenes, and attempted to flee a fourth scene before he was apprehended,” Erik Scramlin’s motion says. “These actions highly suggest that the Defendant is a significant flight risk.”
The county magistrate agreed to hold Herrera in the Rio Arriba County jail without bond after finding his release would “endanger the safety of another person or the community.”
Todd Farkas, one of Herrera’s public defenders, said Herrera’s transfer came following a sealed order from state District Court Judge Jennifer Attrep and an agreement between public defenders and prosecutors.
“I can’t disclose confidential information, and that’s what it would involve,” Farkas said Thursday.
Asked to cite a specific rule justifying the secrecy of an inmate’s transfer, Farkas said, “I don’t want to cite a specific rule because I might be giving away some information.”
State court websites show no indication that Attrep handed down a sealed order in the case. Attrep did not respond to requests by email and voicemail to discuss the order after work hours Thursday.
Herrera is accused of fatally shooting his stepfather, Max Trujillo Sr., 55; his younger brother, Brendon Herrera, 20; and his mother, Maria Rosita Gallegos, 55, at their home in La Madera, and then fleeing in the family’s truck. Police say he later fatally shot Michael Kyte, 61, of Tres Piedras and stole his pickup. After a long drive into Colorado and back, police say, Herrera killed Manuel Serrano, 59, a man he encountered at a gas station in Abiquiú.
Police say Herrera led officers on a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed the stolen truck about 13 miles north of Española. Video of his arrest shows that he aggressively charged at a Rio Arriba County deputy and struggled with officers before they were able to handcuff him.
Herrera has entered no pleas to the charges. His public defenders said in a July 20 motion that Dr. Susan Cave evaluated him at the Rio Arriba jail and concluded he is not competent to stand trial.
S.U. Mahesh, a spokesman for the New Mexico Corrections Department, which runs the state prison system — usually reserved for convicted felons — said in an email that the department has “not been served with any court order to take this individual as of this moment.”
“We do not have him in our custody as of now,” Mahesh said. He referred questions to the Rio Arriba County jail.
Jail officials did not return a message to comment.
Capt. Randy Sanches, a spokesman for the Rio Arriba County sheriff, on Thursday said he has no knowledge of why Herrera was transferred.
“This is by order of the district attorney,” Sanches said. “Those records are sealed.”
District Attorney Marco Serna did not respond to an email and voicemail left late Thursday.
Ben Baur, New Mexico’s chief public defender, declined to comment on the transfer, saying he did not have details.
Kristine Mihelcic, spokeswoman for Santa Fe County, said Herrera was not in the custody of the Santa Fe County jail.
Herrera’s name did not appear Thursday evening in online searches of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque or the San Miguel County Detention Center in Las Vegas, N.M.
State Rep. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, the cochairman of the state Legislature’s Criminal Justice Reform Subcommittee, who has worked as both a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, said he is not aware of any state law guiding judges on when such information in criminal cases can be sealed from public view; rather, he said, such seals are guided by court procedure.
Maestas said he was once representing a defendant in an armed robbery case in which he raised the issue of whether the defendant was competent to stand trial. As a result, Maestas said, his client was sent to the Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, N.M., for a competency evaluation.
Maestas, cautioning that he was speculating about Herrera’s circumstances, said his transfer might have been in his best interest.
“But that begs the question,” Maestas said. “Why is it in everyone’s interest for it to be a secret?”