Tularosa couple found guilty of abuse
ALAMOGORDO — An Otero County jury found a Tularosa couple guilty in 12th Judicial District Court of child abuse Thursday, according to a District Attorney John P. Sugg’s news release.
In the release, Sugg stated Sandra and Allen Quick were found guilty of six counts of third-degree felony child abuse after a three-day trial in 12th Judicial District Judge Angie K. Schneider’s courtroom.
Sugg wrote after the verdict he asked that the Quicks be jailed pending their sentencing hearing, but his request was denied. Sandra and Allen Quick each face a maximum sentence of 18 years in prison at their sentencing hearing scheduled for later this year.
The couple remain on pretrial supervision pending their trial on felony and misdemeanor cruelty to animal charges.
The Quicks’ trial for their animal cruelty charges is scheduled for May, according to the news release.
During the Quicks’ threeday jury trial, Lee Wilder, who worked as an Otero County Sheriff ’s Office deputy, conducted a welfare check on the Quicks’ six children Dec. 5, 2015, Sugg wrote in the release.
When Wilder arrived at the Quicks’ residence, which is on a 42-acre tract of land southwest of Tularosa, he contacted Sandra and Allen Quick who started making excuses about their living conditions, Sugg wrote.
Jurors heard Wilder testify that the deplorable living conditions were of the worst he had seen in his 20-year law enforcement career.
Wilder’s investigation revealed that the Quicks, their six children and Sandra’s cousin were living inside a recreational vehicle on the property.
In addition to the nine-people living in the RV, the Quicks allowed four dogs and several cats to live inside it.
Evidence presented at the Quicks’ trial revealed that the RV’s toilet stopped worked, the refrigerator had spoiled food in it, and water was in short supply on the property.
Also, the generator stopped working while Wilder was on the property, Sugg stated in the release.
Testimony and evidence presented at the Quicks trial revealed the children were filthy and sick with upper respiratory infections. Wilder described the smell as a mixture of urine, feces, body odor and moldy clothes, and almost overwhelming at times for him.
Wilder learned that the Quicks’ 5-year-old daughter had cut herself when she tried to take a sharp knife away from her 3-year-old sister. The bandage around the child’s hand was dirty and stuck to the wound.
The Quicks and Sandra’s cousin would use buckets to bring water into the RV to flush the toilet once a day while using a small trench that they had dug to transport the waste away from the RV to a nearby arroyo.
The Quicks had files of trash stored in a pit next to the family’s water supply.
After observing the condition of the children and property, Wilder took custody of the children and placed them with New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department.