Mother indicted in son’s death
DA says Peña could face up to 55 years in prison if convicted on all 12 charges
A grand jury has indicted Tracy Ann Peña, the mother of a 13-yearold boy who died at their Nambé home in November, on 12 charges related to her son’s alleged abuse and disappearance.
Peña, 35, faces two counts of child abuse resulting in death and great bodily harm, three counts of tampering with evidence, six counts of conspiracy to tamper with evidence and one count of obstructing an investigation of child abuse or neglect.
If convicted on all of those charges, said District Attorney Marco Serna, Peña could face a maximum sentence of 55 years, minus one day. Thirty-six of those years would be mandatory, he added.
Santa Fe County sheriff ’s deputies learned about Jeremiah Valencia’s death in late January, after Peña, who was incarcerated for a separate crime at the Santa Fe County jail, told another inmate the boy had been killed by her boyfriend, Thomas Wayne Ferguson, according to a warrant for his arrest.
The inmate tipped off police and sparked the sheriff ’s office investigation that uncovered Valencia’s body, which was buried near N.M. 503.
Jeremiah’s 13-year-old sister told investigators Ferguson often had kept the boy in a dog kennel and that Jeremiah sometimes had to use a wheelchair because of his injuries, search warrant affidavits say.
Those same documents say that Ferguson’s 19-year-old son, Jordan Anthony Nuñez, told investigators he had seen his father severely beat and choke the boy numerous times.
Medical examiners also have found evidence that Jeremiah may have been burned and sexually assaulted, according to search war-
rant affidavits written by sheriff ’s detectives.
Nuñez told police that Ferguson forced him and Peña to help get rid of Jeremiah’s body. Both said they were so afraid of the man that they didn’t report the boy’s death to police, according to their interviews with deputies, cited in search warrant affidavits and other documents.
Ferguson, Peña and Nuñez all were jailed in connection to the boy’s death.
Ferguson, 42, was indicted in early February and faces 18 charges in relation to the boy’s death, including first-degree murder, kidnapping and child abuse.
If convicted on all the charges, Ferguson could be sentenced to life in prison and another 100plus years.
Serna said Wednesday the District Attorney’s Office may bring more charges against Ferguson based on new information. Whether that happens, Serna
said, depends on the official findings from the state Office of the Medical Investigator, which have not yet been provided to the District Attorney’s Office.
The grand jury returned Peña’s indictment Tuesday evening. Nuñez’s case has not yet been presented to a grand jury, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Padgett said. Court documents show the time frame for his indictment was extended through early April.