The Misery Machine - The Case of Jeremiah Valencia

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jeremiah Andrew Valencia was born on December 6, 2003 in New Mexico to parents Andrew Valencia and Tracy Anpena. Jeremiah's younger sister, whom he adored, was born less than a year later. Jeremiah was a quiet kid who loved to play with the family dogs. He enjoyed music and loved the trumpet. He liked cars, sports, and Batman. Jeremiah also liked to build things, tinker with mechanics, and often had tools in his hands. He loved the outdoors, especially camping and fishing. Now, not much is documented about Jeremiah's early life, but it seems likely that there were problems early on.

Starting point is 00:00:40 In 2011, when Jeremiah would have been about eight years old, his mother, Tracy, was investigated by the New Mexico CYFD for accusations of abuse and neglect. Jeremiah and his sister were placed in the care of their aunt and uncle, who applied for legal guardianship. Once that was completed, the file on Tracy was closed. However, only a few months later, custody of Jeremiah and his sister were given over to their grandparents. Then, somehow the siblings ended back up with their mother, Tracy. Jeremiah attended the Carlos Gilbert Elementary School in Santa Fe, but in the fall of 2016, he was enrolled in middle school in the West Las Vegas School District. In February of 2017, his mother took him and his sister out of school, telling school officials that they were

Starting point is 00:01:26 were going back to school in Santa Fe. However, Jeremiah never showed up for any classes after that, and school officials never showed up. Later in 2017, Tracy and her two children moved the town of Nambay, New Mexico. They were joined by her new boyfriend, Thomas Ferguson, in June of that year. Thomas had a few children of his own from previous relationships, including his 19-year-old son, Jordan Nunez. By all accounts, Thomas was a horribly abusive man. His criminal record began in 1997 when he was convicted of possession of Crystal. In 2003, he was convicted of beating his wife at the time, as well as hitting, choking, and kicking her while she held their eight-month-old daughter. In 2014, he was convicted of kidnapping, essaying, and beating his girlfriend

Starting point is 00:02:13 on Valentine's Day. After he pled guilty to those charges, he was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison. However, most of his time was suspended, and he was soon released from prison on probation. In 2016, Thomas was again accused of being his girlfriend, this time in Rio Rancho, to which he pled no contest. Thomas' ex, Amanda Nunez, the mother of Jordan, somehow managed to live with Thomas for 16 years. She married him when she was only 14 years old. If this sounds fake to you, keep in mind that New Mexico has no official minimum to their marriage age, but they require parental consent or approval from a court for minors.

Starting point is 00:02:52 On the topic of Thomas, Amanda said of him, he was abusive, and I was an obsession. I wasn't even a person. I was just his thing he liked to beat on. When we had kids, it got even worse. It wasn't something I could stop. According to Amanda, she had three miscarriages because Thomas beat her so badly that he, as she put it, almost left me for dead several times. Amanda said that Thomas didn't believe that Jordan was his own son because their skin tones were different.

Starting point is 00:03:21 that he punched Jordan in the chest when he was only two months old, something that could have easily killed a baby of that age. She recalled, he said he wished the little son of a bitch would die. Later, she said he would make Jordan and his siblings hit each other, and would try to make her partake in the beatings as well. He told her that if she didn't hit her kids, she would get it worse, she was more than willing to be beaten herself to protect her own children.

Starting point is 00:03:47 Jordan's birth name was Julian, but when Amanda finally left Thomas, she changed his name to Jordan to prevent Thomas from finding them. For a while, after their breakup, a police officer would escort her home every night to check underneath beds and in closets before she went into her house to make sure Thomas was not waiting for her inside. Jordan ended up getting bounced around,

Starting point is 00:04:07 living in 11 different homes in the first 11 years of his life, including state custody between the ages of six and nine. He eventually ended up living at his grandparents' house before voluntarily leaving them at the age of 18 to go live with his father, Thomas, in New Mexico. We don't know how Jeremiah's mother, Tracy, ended up in a relationship with Thomas, but it seems he transferred his abusive behavior from one family to the next when they moved in together in 2017. Jeremiah was now 13 years old. We'll be back in just one minute.

Starting point is 00:04:39 Please stick around for the following ad. It not only supports the channel, but it also supports charities in our area. This week's episode has been brought to you by Huge Casino, a free to download online social casino game available on both iOS and Android. You can play anywhere, anytime. Play over 100 online casino games from retro classics to modern slot machines with a real Vegas feel. On top of slots, you can also play poker, roulette, baccarat, and blackjack. Want to play with your friends? Join a club and compete in the billionaire league.

Starting point is 00:05:09 What I like most about the game is how much the slots remind me of real machines I've played on trips to the casino. My favorite slot thus far has been one Yergy turned me on to called Dorothy's Adventure. It is a nostalgic feel and great graphics. It's perfect for hanging out on the couch with sticky. Huge Casino is absolutely free and for entertainment purposes only. It does not offer real money gambling or an opportunity to win real money or real prizes. Ready to download Huge Casino and feel that Vegas thrill with your friends, then click my link in the description now and enjoy a 5 million chip bonus absolutely free just for joining.

Starting point is 00:05:43 It really helps if you use the link. Let us know in the comments which slot you like best and invite your friends to join you. Thanks and back to the episode. A neighbor whose yard bordered the family's yard in Nambay so that he used to see Jeremiah and his sister playing in the bare fenced-in yard. According to the neighbor, he would say hi if he saw me, but otherwise the boy and his family pretty much kept to themselves. He remembered that the family had two pit bulls, one brown and one white and brown. They had a litter of puppies the summer prior, he said. I would see Jeremiah out playing with the dogs.

Starting point is 00:06:16 I think the dogs were his best friends. Jeremiah was just in love with those dogs. Thomas began missing check-ins with his probation officer, and in July of 2017, probation and parole officers visited the home in Nambay to try to make contact with him. However, they didn't actually speak to him because they were afraid of the pit bulls in the yard. In August of 2017, Thomas was declared an absconder from probation. November 21st, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Tracy also had problems with the law, and was described as having almost routine minor criminal offenses.

Starting point is 00:06:50 She's previously been convicted on charges of evidence tampering, drug possession, and shoplifting. She failed to appear in court for one of these criminal charges, she was arrested on November 24, 2017, and held for two days before being released on November 26. On January 7, 2018, both Thomas and Tracy were arrested and held in the Santa Fe County Jail. He was booked for his probation violations, and she was booked on yet. another warrant for failure to appear in court. On January 23rd, the New Mexico CYFD received an anonymous call from someone concerned for Jeremiah and his sister. An investigation was open, but by then, it was too late. Only two days later on January 25, 2018, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office received

Starting point is 00:07:35 some terrible information. An unnamed inmate in jail with Tracy had informed jail officials that Tracy had confided to her that her son Jeremiah was dead. Tracy had told the fellow inmate that her boyfriend Thomas had killed Jeremiah back in November. She said that she had been forced to help move her son's remains and that she was too afraid of what her boyfriend would do to her if she told anyone what really happened to her son. After receiving this tip, a detective listened to recorded jail telephone conversations

Starting point is 00:08:05 between Tracy and Thomas, where Tracy told him that she had cried about her son every day. When questioned by deputies, Tracy told the whole story. She confessed that after she had been released from jail on November 26, she came home and went to Jeremiah's room. There, she found his lifeless body wrapped in a blanket. His eyes were wide open with a blank stare. She confronted Thomas, who placed the body in his vehicle and drove away. Tracy told deputies that on December 6, Jeremiah's birthday, Thomas took her to a location on New Mexico Route 503,

Starting point is 00:08:39 just a few miles from their house in Nambay. They then walked a short distance from the highway where Thomas said Jeremiah was buried nearby. When Thomas was questioned, he told his side of the story. He told investigators that he was home sleeping when he heard a commotion outside his bedroom door. The sound turned out to be Jeremiah and Thomas' son Jordan playing aggressively with him.

Starting point is 00:09:00 Thomas said that when he went to investigate, he noticed that Jeremiah appeared to be injured. He said he helped Jeremiah get into bed and covered him with a blanket. it. When Tracy returned home and told him that Jeremiah was unresponsive, Thomas tried unsuccessfully to perform CPR. He said he didn't call law enforcement because he was afraid of being accused of being involved in Jeremiah's death. At the time, he denied removing Jeremiah's body from the home, but claimed to know who did. When 19-year-old Jordan was interviewed, he initially told investigators that Thomas had taken Jeremiah to an uncle's house in Mora. Then he changed his story and told yet

Starting point is 00:09:34 another version of events. He said that Thomas had punched Jeremiah in the face and stomach multiple times, dragged the boy into the back of the home and locked the door. Jordan said he heard loud music coming from his father's room for the rest of the evening. He later said that Thomas was an abusive father. He was scared if he ever told the police about Jeremiah's death. He would hurt him, Tracy, and Jeremiah's younger sister. He also said that Thomas put padlocks on all the doors to stop anyone from leaving. According to a police affidavit, Jeremiah's younger sister told the police an even more harrowing story about their lives in the months leading up to Jeremiah's death. She related how Thomas would savagely beat various members of the family, would even force them to beat one another.

Starting point is 00:10:20 When describing life with Thomas, she said, it was hard, it was not fun. He was always angry and was always being mean to everyone in the house. He would take his anger out on all of us. He would hit us or hit the dogs. She said that Thomas would force Tracy to abuse her own son when he didn't feel like bothering to do it himself. Jeremiah's sister recalls being forced to watch Thomas poke Jeremiah with a homemade spear in their parents' bedroom. She was also forced to participate in the abuse of her brother. She said, he would just tell me to do it. I was afraid to tell him no. She said Thomas would would hit her if she dared talk back to him, but that didn't happen often because she was so scared of him. She said later she had a hard time remembering her life in that house. Thomas would sometimes

Starting point is 00:11:04 beat Jeremiah so severely that he had to use a cane or a wheelchair to get around. Often as punishment, Jeremiah was forced to sleep in a plastic dog kennel. He was also made to wear a shot collar. Either around his neck or on his ankle. Jeremiah's sister told the investigators that one day in late November, she and Thomas were supposed to go pick up Tracy from jail. For whatever reason, Thomas got angry at Jeremiah and locked him in the plastic dog crate. After Jeremiah fell asleep in the crate, Thomas' son Jordan began flipping the crate to wake Jeremiah. Jordan then pulled Jeremiah out of the crate and Jeremiah's head was just kind of dangling. Jeremiah never woke up. According to Jeremiah's sister, her brother was in rough shape on the day that he died. She said he was really skinny

Starting point is 00:11:52 and all his cuts were infected. He had a black eye and his two. He had a black eye and his two tooth was knocked out. She also told police that Thomas and his son Jordan put Jeremiah's body in the bathtub to wash the blood off before placing him on his bed where Tracy later found him. She said Thomas told the family to lie and say that Jeremiah went to live with relatives, should anyone ask about him. In later interviews, Jordan also revealed more details about how Jeremiah was tortured before his death. He told police that his father would beat Jeremiah with brass knuckles, a cane, and steel-toed boots. Jeremiah would have a five-pound sledgehammer dropped on his fingers and was often used as target practice for their homemade spear.

Starting point is 00:12:36 Jordan confirmed that Jeremiah was frequently locked in a dog crate, but also told how Jeremiah was forced to wear an adult diaper and that Thomas would urinate on Jeremiah for no reason. According to court documents, Thomas would lock Jeremiah in the crate for long periods of time and refused to feed him. He would say things like, if the dogs are starving, I'll starve Jeremiah. Tracy said that sometimes she would sneak food and water to Jeremiah while he was locked in the crate. Jeremiah's last day, he was punched, choked, held against a wall, and turned upside down while Thomas slammed his head on the ground. Then he was crammed back into the dog crate where he eventually died. Tracy later changed her original story to say that Jeremiah's body had been kept in the garage for three days.

Starting point is 00:13:22 She claimed that Thomas locked her and Jordan in the garage where they wrapped Jeremiah's body in plastic and duct tape, replacing him in a large plastic storage tub. Then Tracy, Thomas, and Jordan drove to a remote stretch of New Mexico Route 503. Thomas forced Tracy to watch while he and Jordan dug a hole where they would eventually bury the plastic tub containing Jeremiah's body. Following Tracy's shocking revelations, police went to the location described and discovered Jeremiah's buried inside a blue plastic tub in a shallow grave. According to search warrant affidavits, Jeremiah's body was found wearing a diaper,

Starting point is 00:14:00 just like Jordan said. His body also showed lacerations that might have been caused by SA, and that portions of his body may have been burned. In a press conference, Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia could barely contain his tears when he shared details about Jeremiah's death. He said, I can honestly say this poor child suffered at the hands of a a monster. Although I've seen a lot, this is very gut-wrenching to the point where you go home and

Starting point is 00:14:27 it's hard to sleep at night, just thinking about the abuses as poor child went through. A search of the family's home found blood evidence consistent with Jeremiah's sister's account. They used a special light to find blood not visible to the naked eye in both Thomas's bedroom and Jeremiah's bedroom. A plastic dog crate measuring just 26 by 39 inches was later found at the home of one of Jordan's cousins and was confirmed to be the crate used in Jeremiah's death. On January 29th, 2018, Thomas, who was still in jail, was formerly accused in Jeremiah's death. February 18th, he was indicted by a grand jury on 18 felony charges, including first-degree homicide, kidnapping, CA, and tampering with evidence. For whatever reason, SA was not among these charges.

Starting point is 00:15:17 On April 11th, he was sentenced for violating his parole conditions for his personal. previous kidnapping charge from 2014. He would have remained in jail until roughly January of 2024 for that crime. However, now he would also be awaiting trial for the homicide of Jeremiah. Tracy and Jordan were both arrested and charged with several crimes. On March 7th, Tracy was indicted by a grand jury on 12 charges, including intentional CA resulting in death, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit evidence tampering, and obstructing a report of CA or neglect. On April 3, 2018, Jordan was indicted by a grand jury on 13 charges,

Starting point is 00:15:54 including felony counts of intentional CA resulting in death, tampering with evidence, and a misdemeanor for obstructing report of CA or neglect. An autopsy performed on Jeremiah's body confirmed that the 13-year-old boy had died from blunt force trauma. The manner of death was ruled a homicide. He had multiple old and new injuries consistent with the accounts of how he had been beaten and tortured before his death.

Starting point is 00:16:18 The report did not find conclusive evidence that he had been essayed. But it also could not exclude that possibility either. The report detailed the many, many injuries that Jeremiah had. These included multiple jaw fractures, a dislocated eyeball, rips in his scalp, cheek and ear, and a broken hand in rib. His jaw was so badly broken that the bone was poking through his gums. The examination was limited by the decomposition of his remains,

Starting point is 00:16:49 since Jeremiah's body was not recovered until nearly two months after his death. Thomas, who seemed to be the primary perpetrator in the homicide of Jeremiah, was found dead in his jail cell at the Santa Fe County Detention Center at around 11 p.m. on April 27, 2018. He had been alone in a segregated unit with increased patrol. Officers at the unit conducted welfare checks every 30 minutes. However, Thomas was able to, as YouTube requires us to phrase this this way, remove himself from this earth with a bed sheet. District attorney Marco Cerna said that Thomas did this to avoid taking responsibility for what he had done.

Starting point is 00:17:29 He said, I'm angry that this happened because I don't believe Ferguson is going to receive the justice my office was going to bring against him to bring justice to Jeremiah. However, the DA vowed to seek justice from the other family members responsible. He said, my office is going to vigorously prosecute Ms. Tracy Peña and Mr. Jordan Nunez. They are in custody, so we're going to focus our attention on them. I wish we could have brought that justice to Jeremiah and his family by convicting Thomas Ferguson. True to his word, the prosecution shifted their attention to Jordan in his role in Jeremiah's death. After Jordan pled guilty to CA, prosecutors pushed for a sentence of 24 years, the heaviest sentence

Starting point is 00:18:12 for his crime. They pointed to the reports that Jordan, age 19 at the time, frequently used a button-controlled shot caller on Jeremiah. He also tortured Jeremiah on a daily basis for a period of at least a month with a homemade spear and would stab it into various parts of Jeremiah's body. Facebook messages presented to the court showed Jordan wrote that he took someone off the map and could do time for it. Prosecutors argued that it was even possible that he may have caused the fatal blow that ultimately killed Jeremiah. He knew that Jeremiah was weakened and severely injured when he chose to flip the dog crate over and over to wake him, an action that may have finally killed the little boy.

Starting point is 00:18:54 Prosecutors showed the court the dog crate, the homemade spear, and the sledgehammer, all of which tested positive for Jeremiah's blood. They also showed evidence that Jeremiah's blood was found throughout the house, including a large amount of blood inside a fireplace where the boy was often tortured and confined behind a specially made door. Two people left the courtroom in tears as horrifying images of the back. battered and decomposing body of the 13-year-old were displayed for the court. District attorney Mary Carmack Altwise said Thomas was the bad guy in all of this while Jordan watched.

Starting point is 00:19:28 But that's the problem. Jordan watched and occasionally participated. He got the benefit of a plea bargain because of his lesser involvement. But even though it was lesser, it was not less. It still resulted in Jeremiah's death. Jordan was watching his little brother hobbling around on a cane, bleeding on it and did nothing. The death of Jeremiah Valencia was not an isolated incident. This abuse went on for months, and Jordan came into it. He watched it.

Starting point is 00:19:55 He participated in it and did nothing. He was not trying to come to the police and admit to his crimes. He did two interviews before he even admitted he knew where Jeremiah was, that he was dead. That is why he deserves to serve the time for his crimes at serious violent offense level. Jordan's defense tried to claim that he suffered from Peter, TSD from his own childhood of abuse and neglect, so he should get a lighter sentence. However, on October 15, 2021, state district judge Matthew Wilson sentenced Jordan to 21 years, 18 years for the abuse plus three years for destroying evidence. As for Tracy, she struck a plea deal and received 12

Starting point is 00:20:36 years for CA. Prosecutors felt that she was more likely a victim of Thomas' abuse and control, and that she was not an act of participant in Jeremiah's torture and death. Deputy D.A. Todd Bullion told the judge that Tracy was a crystal and heroin addict who would often stay in her room for days at a time. It was essentially held captive as Thomas placed cameras around the house to prevent others from leaving. Her cooperation with authorities during the investigation also helped earn her a favorable deal. In the end, she pled guilty to CA and 11 other accounts were dismissed. Her total prison sentence would have been 21 years, but nine years that she faced for charges to distribute drugs were suspended. She was also required to testify against Thomas and Jordan during their trials, though,

Starting point is 00:21:21 of course, Thomas never ended up facing trial. The horrendous death of Jeremiah Valencia shocked the community. Many wondered how he could have been out of school for seven months without anyone noticing. Under New Mexico's state law, parents are required to enroll children between the ages of 5 and 18 in school. However, there was no specific state official responsible for ensuring that happens when students are transferred between districts. So when Tracy removed Jeremiah and his sister from the school at West Las Vegas, New Mexico, that was the last time Jeremiah was on anyone's official radar. According to a police affidavit,

Starting point is 00:21:55 Jeremiah had actually reached out to a family member on Facebook to seek help for the abuse happening in the household. That family member then sent a message to Jeremiah's mother through Facebook. But Tracy replied by saying she was intruding on her business and said Jeremiah is a manipulative liar, and he tells stories to get his way. nothing else ever came of Jeremiah's plea for help. Shortly after Jeremiah's body had been found in late January 2018, a small memorial form next to the fence in front of his home. A pile of votive candles featuring an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Starting point is 00:22:29 flickered in the cold January wind. Balloons, flowers, and stuffed animals were also left as a memorial to the murdered child. On February 1st, 2018, a vigil was held for Jeremiah on the playground at the Nombay Community Center. Dozens of people holding candles and balloons gathered before a makeshift altar showing pictures of Jeremiah. Only about a mile away, police officers were currently executing the search warrants of Jeremiah's home, carrying out bags of evidence that would later be presented in court. Katarina Hernandez, a stay-at-home mom who organized the vigil, said everyone in the community is feeling guilty that they didn't know enough to help prevent Jeremiah's death. She said,

Starting point is 00:23:08 we're a small community, when we see problems we want to help. The guilt is felt throughout the community right now. What could we have done to help? Another woman at the vigil spoke of driving past Jeremiah's house frequently, never knowing that anything was wrong. Even after his death, no one noticed that he was missing during those two months before his body was found, she said, this child had no one. We need to recognize that. We also need to recognize that we all had some kind of responsibility in it. How do we change? Go back and think about this. Go back and ask yourself why and why and why. He went through hell.

Starting point is 00:23:43 Yes, he did. But you know what? Right now, he's here with us. And he's smiling down at us. That's our guardian angel. And he's going to stand up and he's going to protect every other kid that this is happening to. It's going to stop. Frustration doesn't even

Starting point is 00:23:59 begin to describe it. These children need to stop dying. It's awful. I see Christina's on the news. It's every day, every day. It's happening. to one of our children. Tonight, the family of Jeremiah Valencia remembers the 13-year-old boy who was brutally murdered in November. And while they mourned, they demanded answers from lawmakers.

Starting point is 00:24:20 They putting him in the ground. There are angels. These children don't know any better. And as yet another New Mexican child is taken too soon, those closest to him say his tragic death will be part of something bigger. Jeremiah may have lost his life, but he's going to give life to a hell of a lot of kids. Amen. His death will not be in vain.

Starting point is 00:24:42 Staff members at his former elementary school wrote a piece for the local newspaper, remembering Jeremiah as a kid who wanted to be a professional basketball player, played the trumpet in the school band, and joked around with teachers and other students. Teachers remember that he wasn't afraid to ask for help, to admit when he was wrong or to stand up for his other classmates. When teacher said, if any child would step up to stand with or protect others,

Starting point is 00:25:05 it was Jeremiah. He was a kind and loyal friend to his classmates. Jeremiah's funeral was held on February 8, 2018 at the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Picos, New Mexico. Hundreds of people attended packing the pews in the aisles of the church. Jeremiah's family members were invited by a funeral home employee to place their hands on his casket. They said, go ahead and leave your handprint on the casket, like Jeremiah left his handprint on all of your lives. Various members of Jeremiah's family gave a brief eulogy. One said,

Starting point is 00:25:42 He was an amazing little boy with a heart of gold and a smile that could light up a room. Another tearful family member said, We love you, Jeremiah, and this isn't goodbye. We will see you again. Jeremiah was laid to rest in a white casket with gold angels on it. Hundreds of people accompanied the hearse in a procession from the church to the St. Anthony's Parish Cemetery. Among the procession were members of the San Miguel County Sheriff's Posse mounted on horseback and patrol cars from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.

Starting point is 00:26:15 In front of the young man's grave, the crowd blessed Jeremiah with hands outstretched. His casket, cover with flowers, teddy bears, and memorabilia, was lowered into the earth as See You Again by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa was played. Jeremiah's granite headstone reads, At Peace, Beloved Son, Grandson, and Brother. Jeremiah A. Valencia, December 6, 2003 to November 26, 2017. Multiple vigils have been held for Jeremiah in the years since his death. On the one-year anniversary of his death, mourners gathered at French Eastfield in Santa Fe to remember Jeremiah. Balloons featuring the Batman symbol flew overhead as pictures of Jeremiah were arranged

Starting point is 00:26:58 in the shape of his initials on a car windshield. His half-sister Karen Gonzalez remembers. He was really sweet, helpful. He wasn't shy whatsoever. He would walk up to anybody and be like, Hi, my name's Jeremiah, who are you? He'd make friends just like that. He was a great kid. I'll always have him in my heart. He knows I love him. I'm just really glad he's not suffering anymore. Jeremiah's father, Andrew Valencia, organized a five-year anniversary vigil in November of 2022, the same year that Jeremiah would have graduated high school if he was still alive. Andrew, who hadn't seen Jeremiah since his son was six years old, recalls that Jeremiah was a happy little kid.

Starting point is 00:27:38 He said, he was always an active kid. It's a tragedy. He had a good future. I know he did. Just remember him. It's not about anything else. He still lives every day in my life, in my heart, and in others.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Jeremiah Valencia

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.