Jeremiah Andrew Valencia was born on December 6 2003 in New Mexico to parents Andrew Valencia and Tracy Anne Pena Jeremiah’s younger sister whom he adored was born less than a year later Jeremiah was a quiet kid who loved to play with a 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 in 2011 when Jeremiah would have been about 8 years old his mother Tracy was investigated by the New Mexico cfd 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 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 in his sister out of school telling school officials that they were going back to school in Santa Fe however jerem Maya 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 namb 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 Nunes 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 8-month-old daughter in 2014 he was convicted of kidnapping essaying and beating his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day after he pled guilty to those

charges he was sentenced to nearly 9 years in prison however most of his time was suspended 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 she pleed no contest Thomas’s ex Amanda Nunes 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 on the topic of Thomas Amanda said of him he was abusive and I was an obsession I wasn’t even a person it 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 that he punched Jordan in the

chest when he was only 2 months old something that could have easily killed a baby of that age she recalled he said he wished the little son of a bit would die later she said he would make Jordan and his siblings hit each other 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 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 under 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 living in 11 different homes in the first 11 years of his life including State custody between the ages of 6 and N 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 a neighbor whose yard bordered the family’s yard in namb said that he used to see Jeremiah and his sister playing in the bare fenon 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 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 namb to try to make contact with him however they didn’t actually speak to him because they were afraid of the pitbulls 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 was described as having almost routine minor criminal offenses 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 so she was arrested on November 24th 2017 and held for 2 days before being released on November 26th on January 7th 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 warant warrant for failure to appear in court on January 23rd the New Mexico cfd received an anonymous call from someone concerned for Jeremiah and his sister an investigation was open but by then it was too late only 2 days later on January 25th 2018 the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office received some terrible information an unnamed inmate in jail with Tracy had informed jail officials that Tracy had confided to her that her son jerem IA was dead Tracy had told the

fellow inmate that her boyfriend Thomas had killed Jeremiah back in November she said that she’d 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 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 6th Jeremiah’s birthday Thomas took her to a location on New Mexico route 503 just a few miles from their house in nay 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’s son Jordan playing aggressively with him 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 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 jeriah to an Uncle’s house in Mora then he changed his story and told yet 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 heroine story about their lives in the months leading up to Jeremiah’s death she related how Tomas would savagely beat various members of the family would even force them to beat

one another 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 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 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 thas 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’s 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 and all his Cuts were infected he

had a black eye and his 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 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 5B Sledgehammer dropped on his fingers and was often used as target practice for their homemade spear 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 refuse 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 on 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 3 days she claimed that Thomas locked her and Jordan in the garage where they wrapped Jeremiah’s body in plastic and duct tape for placing 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 body buried inside a blue plastic tub in a shallow grave according to search warrant affidavits Jeremiah’s body was found wearing a diaper just like Jordan said his body also showed lacerations that might have been caused

by saay 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 monster although I’ve seen a lot this is very gut-wrenching to the point where you go home and it’s hard to sleep at night just thinking about the abuses this poor child went through a search at 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 26x 39 in 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 saay was not among these charges on April 11th he was sentenced for violating his parole conditions for his 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 3rd 2018 Jordan was indicted by a grand jury on 13 charges 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 the report did not find conclusive evidence that he had been assay 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 and 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 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 11:00 p.m. on April 27th 2018 he had been alone in a segregated unit with increased Patrol officers at the unit conducted welfare checks every 30 minutes however ever 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 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 Miss Tracy Pena and Mr Jordan Nunes 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 and his role in Jeremiah’s death after Jordan pled guilty to ca prosecutors pushed for a sentence of 24 years the heaviest sentence for his crime they pointed to the reports that Jordan aged 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 show

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 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 Battered and decomposing body of the 13-year-old were displayed for the Court District Attorney Mary karmac alt wise said Thomas was the bad guy in all of this while Jordan watched 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 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 ‘s defense tried to claim that he suffered from PTSD from his own childhood of abuse and neglect so he should get a lighter sentence however on October 15th 2021 state district judge Matthew Wilson sentenced Jordan to 21 years 18 years for the abuse plus 3 years for destroying evidence as for Tracy she struck a plea deal and received 12 years for CA prosecutors felt that she was more likely a victim of Thomas’s abuse and control and that she was not an act of

par participant in Jeremiah’s torture and death Deputy da 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 and 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 9 years

that she faced charges to distribute drugs were suspended she was also required to testify against Thomas and Jordan during their trials though 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 7 months without anyone noticing under New Mexico 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 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 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 VOD of candles featuring an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe 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 Nay 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 would later be presented in court Karina 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 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 he 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 begin to describe it these children need to stop dying it’s awful I’m SE seen this on the news it’s every day every day this is 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 they’re 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 dami have lost his life but he’s going to give life to a hell of a lot of kids amen amen his death will not be in vain no it won’t 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 one teacher said if any child would step up to stand with or protect others it was Jeremiah he was a kind and loyal friend to his classmates Jeremiah’s funeral was held on February 8th 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 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 posy mounted on Horseback and patrol cars from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in front of the young man’s grave the crowd blessed Jeremiah with hands outstretched his casket covered with flowers teddy bears and memorabilia was lowered into the Earth as See You Again by Charlie poth and Whiz 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 1year anniversary of his death MERS gathered at Frenchie’s field in Santa to remember Jeremiah balloons featuring the Batman symbol flew overhead as pictures of Jeremiah were arranged 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 5-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 6 years old recalls that Jeremiah was a happy little kid 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 others