Barriers between rural New Mexicans and health care can and must be addressed » Albuquerque Journal abqjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abqjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Then-gubernatorial candidate Michelle Lujan Grisham, May 28, 2018
It’s a tragic and familiar story that writes itself in New Mexico every few years, regardless of the administration – each time serving as a call for change in how New Mexico protects, or doesn’t, its vulnerable children.
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In this case, allegations in a lawsuit filed over the brutal beating death of a 4-year-old Albuquerque boy who was left in his mother’s care by the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department (despite repeated abuse and neglect referrals) detail a monumental failure of protection and oversight.
James Dunklee Cruz
The short and tragic life of James Dunklee Cruz ended on Dec. 10, 2019. He died minutes after arriving at University of New Mexico Hospital with multiple injuries to his head and chest. His mother had left him with a friend, Zerrick Marquez, who is jailed on a no-hold bond pending trial on a charge of felony first-degree child abuse resulting in d
14-year-old suspected of stabbing, robbing woman he met on Snapchat abqjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abqjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Brian Benally, 29, is accused of a third-degree felony count of aggravated assault on a peace officer, a fourth-degree felony count of felon in possession of a firearm and five petty misdemeanor counts of negligent use of a deadly weapon, according to the criminal complaint.
The defendant is listed in critical condition at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
A review of New Mexico court records show Benally has multiple felony convictions including vehicle theft.
FARMINGTON The man shot by Farmington police on May 10 faces multiple charges for allegedly pointing a handgun at an officer. He is also accused of firing 25 rounds from a .40 caliber pistol while walking in the downtown area before police located him.
Lawsuit: Agency s failure led to New Mexico boy s death
COLLEEN HEILD , Albuquerque Journal
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) At age 17, Krista Cruz was still in foster care when her second son, James Dunklee Cruz, was born.
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department knew Krista well she had been a ward of the state for seven years after experiencing physical abuse, neglect, excessive discipline and educational neglect at home.
Yet over the next four years, her young son James lived in danger, himself a victim of abuse and neglect before he was beaten to death in late 2019, allegedly by one of his mother’s male friends, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed Tuesday by a personal representative for the boy’s estate.