Boy charged in mass shooting threat released to house arrest

Felony charge initially filed against S.F. High teen dropped earlier this month

A state District Court judge on Wednesday ordered the conditional release of a Santa Fe High School freshman who has been held in custody since his Nov. 8 arrest on a felony terrorism charge related to a written threat to commit a mass shooting at the school.

Aaron Encinias, 14, initially told police the letter was meant as a prank and denied the charges at his first court appearance earlier this month. But in a climate where it seems difficult to keep up with mass shootings across the nation, local authorities did not consider the letter a laughing matter.

At a pretrial hearing Wednesday afternoon that drew reporters and family members, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer agreed to release Encinias from the Santa Fe County juvenile detention center after she read a forensic evaluation that recommended his release under strict supervision.

District Attorney Marco Serna earlier this month quietly dropped a felony charge initially filed against the boy accusing him of engaging in terrorist activity. Now Encinias faces two misdemeanor charges of interfering

with the educational process and disorderly conduct, Serna said.

Serna did not mention that the felony charge was dropped in previous news releases or statements about the high-profile case. But in an interview Wednesday, Serna said he had to find a proper balance between the “extreme potential devastation” outlined in Encinias’ threatening letter, which included specific targets, and “the fact that we are also dealing with a 14-year-old kid.”

He also said: “If you read the terrorism statute, you have to have multiple perpetrators.”

Weeks ago, Serna’s office dropped felony conspiracy charges against two other boys who knew about the letter before authorities discovered it on school grounds Nov. 7.

Wearing shackles, a jumpsuit and black-rimmed glasses, Encinias silently followed along as his defense attorney, Tom Clark, and Deputy District Attorney Jason Lidyard told the judge the two parties had come to an agreement on the conditions of the boy’s release from the youth center.

The plan effectively will put him under house arrest on electronic monitoring around the clock as he splits his time between the homes of his father and his grandparents. He also must withdraw from Santa Fe Public Schools and enroll in the New Mexico Connections Academy, a virtual charter school, to complete his schoolwork online.

Marlowe Sommer, initially skeptical of the plan, agreed to the release conditions after reading a forensic evaluation completed at the request of the juvenile probation department.

Under the plan, Encinias will only be able to leave his father’s home or his grandmother’s home with an adult to attend courtordered counseling. He also will have time every week for personal leave so “he can have some sort of social connection if he wants to go to the movies with his father’s supervision and maybe a friend, or if he gets out of the house to go to the grocery store with his father or his grandmother,” said Lidyard, the prosecutor.

In a testy exchange, Marlowe Sommer asked if there are any firearms in the two homes.

“There is one BB gun, which will be taken out of the home,” Clark replied. “But there is no access to guns whatsoever.”

“Here’s my concern,” Marlowe Sommer said. “The allegations are obviously very serious, and I don’t know where he is in his mind.”

But she agreed to Encinias’ release from the youth detention facility as long as he has no access to weapons and sets up a safety plan with family members.

The boy will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and the two parties will meet at the end of January for a status conference on his progress in counseling sessions. If the state and defense do not come to an agreement on a resolution in the case, Encinias will again come before the court in March, when the judge will have wide latitude to sentence him.

But Clark — whose legal career includes more than 20 years of juvenile defense work — said most juvenile cases end up in negotiated resolutions between the state and defense “because, quite frankly, children aren’t very good criminals.”

Clark said he is seeking a resolution in the case that would “continue to allow” Encinias to be a good student and enter adulthood without a criminal record.

Clark described Encinias as a good student without a criminal history, is active in extracurricular activities and “has never been in trouble before.”

“He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t use drugs. He likes school,” Clark said. “This is the kind of young man who you want to make sure gets all the services he needs.”

The district attorney agreed that the boy needs help.

“Clearly this was a very serious incident,” Serna said. “This individual definitely needs counseling. Our priority is the safety of the public.”

During the brief hearing, the judge addressed the boy’s father, telling him to be “on notice” that Encinias is “at an alarming state.”

“Father, you really need to step up,” Marlowe Sommer said. “He needs some guidance — some positive guidance.”

Outside the courtroom Wednesday, the boy’s father, flanked by family members, declined to speak with The New Mexican.

Clark later said people shouldn’t read too much into the judge’s words of warning to the father, who works long hours and raises the teenage boy as a single parent.

Now, Clark said, the man will have the help of other family members in supervising Encinias. He added, “There’s nothing about the father or his supervision that gives rise to any concern.”

Contact Justin Horwath at 505-9863017 or jhorwath@sfnewmexican. com.