Ferguson indicted in slaying, disposal of body
First-degree murder charges could land accused killer of teen boy up to life in prison
A Santa Fe County grand jury has indicted a man accused in the slaying of 13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia on 18 felony charges, including first-degree murder.
Thomas Wayne Ferguson, 42, also faces charges of kidnapping, child abuse, tampering with evidence and conspiracy for allegedly wrapping Jeremiah’s body in plastic, burying it and cleaning up blood in the Nambé home where the boy — the son of Ferguson’s girlfriend — was killed in November, according to documents provided by District Attorney Marco Serna.
The grand jury returned the indictments Thursday night, Serna said.
Jeremiah’s mother, Tracy Ann Peña, 35, and Ferguson’s 19-year-old son, Jordan Anthony Nuñez, also have been arrested in relation to Jeremiah’s death. Evidence against them is scheduled to be considered by a grand jury March 6, according to motions filed last week in the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.
The count of first-degree murder against Ferguson marks a change from his initial charge of child abuse resulting in death. It also could mean a life sentence for Ferguson if he is convicted of the charge.
Under a state statute known as Baby Brianna’s Law, a person convicted of causing the death of a child under 12 by intentional abuse can be sentenced to life in prison. But the law, named for a 5-month-old baby in Las Cruces killed in 2002 by her father and uncle, doesn’t apply in Jeremiah’s case. He was too old at the time of his death.
Jeremiah’s name became a call during the legislative session that ended this week to expand the law so that it covers cases involving children as old as 17.
House Bill 100, sponsored by Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes, R-Albuquerque, passed the House of Representatives
earlier this month on a vote of 62-6 — with all the no votes cast by Democrats — but gained no traction in the Senate.
Gov. Susana Martinez made a lastminute push for the bill Thursday, with no success.
Those opposed to the measure have argued that under current state statutes, there are ways to secure a life sentence for a person convicted of killing a child, such as successfully prosecuting a defendant on a charge of first-degree murder.
Convincing a jury that a defendant intended to kill a child — and planned the slaying before the act occurred — can be more difficult, however, than persuading jurors that a slain child had been abused. First-degree murder convictions are rare.
Ferguson is suspected of brutally abusing Jeremiah in the weeks leading up to the boy’s death in late November. According to court documents, Nuñez told investigators he saw Ferguson punch and choke the boy, hold his body upside down and bash his head against the floor, and lock the child in a dog kennel.
Jeremiah’s 13-year-old sister also told authorities Ferguson had abused her brother, court documents say. The girl told deputies the beatings were so bad that Jeremiah sometimes had to use a wheelchair.
Peña was in jail on a probation violation the day her son died, documents say, but came home Nov. 26 to find his body wrapped in a blanket in a back bedroom of the family’s Nambé home.
A day or so later, according to affidavits for search warrants and arrest warrants, Ferguson forced Peña and Nuñez to help him remove the boy’s body from the house and bury it off N.M. 503; he allegedly told them, along with Peña’s daughter, to tell anyone who asked about Jeremiah that the boy was staying with relatives in Mora.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff ’s Office began investigating Jeremiah’s death in January after receiving a tip from a jailhouse informant. Court records say the inmate had overheard Peña, who was jailed on a warrant last month, speak about her son’s death and identify Ferguson as the person responsible for killing the boy.