GRANTS –  Attorney General Hector Balderas announced on Dec. 22 that Jadrian Lucero will remain in prison following his conviction for the fatal abuse of his own daughter, who was just 47 days old at the time of her death.

The New Mexico Supreme Court agreed with the arguments of the Office of the Attorney General Criminal Appeals Division and affirmed Lucero’s conviction for intentional child abuse resulting in death. A Cibola County jury found Lucero guilty after the baby’s autopsy revealed that she died from “devastating brain injuries” caused by blunt force trauma.

“The tragedy of an innocent life cut so short is difficult to comprehend, but I hope today’s decision...

New Mexico State Police Officers responded to the 16 mile post on Interstate 40  in reference to a fatal vehicle crash shortly after 2 pm Dec. 17.

A westbound semi- tractor/trailer, driven by Michael Morris, 22, of Springfield, OH, rear ended a pickup truck that was stopped in the traffic lane due to construction on the roadway.

After the collision the pickup caught fire.

The driver of the pickup truck was identified as Leo Chischilly, 68, from Saint Michaels, Ariz. Chischilly sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The man killed by a motorist near Thoreau on Dec. 14 has been identified as Kenneth Benally, 65, of Crownpoint. According to a police report, Benally was hit by Megan Heintz of Cypress, Texas, at about 7 pm, near mile marker 53 near Thoreau.

According to report, Heintz told Deputy Shane Bennett of the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office that she saw a pedestrian jump into traffic from the shoulder of the roadway, but did not manage to avoid hitting the man.

She told deputies that she hit Benally as she traveled in the west bound right lane of Interstate 40, and that she stopped in the center median after the accident.

“I was driving at 75 mph in the right lane,” she said, according...

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of John W. Paradise, please call McKinley County Sheriff’s Office, Investigations Division.  Phone: (505) 863-1410 or crimestoppers at 1-877-722-6161.  John is wanted for questioning in a homicide case.