Affidavit: Boy sought help on Facebook before death
Jeremiah Valencia, the 13-year-old boy who police say was tortured, murdered and buried near Nambé last year, used Facebook messages to tell a relative about possible abuse at his home, according to recently filed search warrant affidavits.
Valencia’s mother, Tracy Ann Peña, her boyfriend Thomas Ferguson, and Ferguson’s son Jordan Nunez were charged with child abuse and other counts in the death of the boy, whose body was found in January buried in a container near N.M. 502.
In April, Ferguson hanged himself in the Santa Fe County jail. The boy’s mother and Ferguson’s son are awaiting trial.
Court documents say that in one Facebook message a female family member indicated “that Jeremiah made contact with her by use of Facebook messenger indicating there was possible abuse in the household.”
When the relative contacted Peña to check on the welfare of her children, Peña became upset because she felt the woman was “intruding in her business,” an affidavit states. Peña told the woman “that Jeremiah is a manipulative liar and he tells lies and stories to get his way,” the document says.