Day 2: Jordan Nuñez sentencing

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Jordan Nuñez is the last person to be sentenced in a horrific case in northern New Mexico.

13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia was discovered buried in a plastic container along a road in northern New Mexico in early 2018.

Sentencing for Nuñez is scheduled to last three days. Wednesday was day two.

Nuñez is facing up to 24 years in prison.

Multiple witnesses took the stand Wednesday afternoon – people who knew Nuñez long before these charges. They told the judge he was nice, but a follower.

Nuñez’s grandfather took the stand, telling the court that Nuñez’s father, Thomas Ferguson, was abusive.

However, the state reminded the court that Nuñez had pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death and two counts of tampering with evidence.

Nuñez is accused of helping his father torture and kill Jeremiah. During sentencing, the court mentioned severe abuse – he was allegedly kept in a dog kennel while Ferguson and his mother abused drugs.

As for the others charged in Jeremiah’s death – Tracy Pena, Jeremiah’s mom, agreed to a deal for a 12-year prison sentence. Ferguson died of an apparent suicide in jail.