Ferguson pleads not guilty
Judge agrees defendant in teen’s death is too dangerous for release
Thomas Wayne Ferguson entered a plea of not guilty Thursday to crimes that could land him in prison for life plus 100 years.
Ferguson, 42, stands accused of murder and 17 other crimes in the death of 13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia, who died in Nambé in late November after what authorities say was months of abuse at the hands of Ferguson.
According to court documents in the case and reports from the Santa Fe County Sheriff ’s Office, authorities suspect Ferguson brutally and repeatedly beat Jeremiah, his girlfriend’s son, ultimately causing the child’s death.
Medical investigators also have found evidence that Jeremiah may have been burned and sexually assaulted, sheriff ’s office documents say.
Jeremiah’s 13-year-old sister told deputies that Ferguson often had kept the boy in a dog kennel and that Jeremiah sometimes had to used a wheelchair because of his injuries, according to reports. Ferguson’s 19-year-old son, Jordan Anthony Nuñez, told investigators that he had seen his father severely beat and choke the boy numerous times.
Nuñez and Jeremiah’s mother, Tracy Ann Peña, 35, also are being held in the case, accused of helping Ferguson bury the boy’s body on the side of the road in Nambé and failing to report the abuse and death to police.
State District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s courtroom in Santa Fe was packed for Ferguson’s arraignment Thursday morning.
But Ferguson, shackled and wearing a red jail jumpsuit, stared
Ferguson stared straight ahead as he was led to the lectern to address the judge.
straight ahead as he was led to the lectern to address the judge.
He spoke only three words during the proceeding, answering “yes” as the judge asked him if he understood the charges against him — which include kidnapping, tampering with evidence and child abuse resulting in great bodily harm or death — and if he understood his right against selfincrimination and his right to a court-appointed attorney.
Attorney Michael Jones, who along with his partner Tom Clark has been appointed to represent Ferguson, uttered Ferguson’s plea of not guilty.
In February, during Ferguson’s arraignment for a probation violation in a different case, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Padgett had argued that Ferguson was too dangerous to be released from jail on bond awaiting trial, and she renewed that argument Thursday, asking Marlowe Sommer to apply the same conditions in this case.
Jones did not oppose the motion, and the judge granted the prosecutor’s request.
In the hallway after the hearing, family members embraced one another and wept.
Contact Phaedra Haywood at 505-986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com. Follow her on Twitter @phaedraann.