Teen charged as adult for alleged fight with corrections officers in juvenile jail
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Another teen murder suspect has landed himself in adult jail for an alleged assault while in juvenile detention.
Jacob Lovato is accused of biting and punching corrections officers inside the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center and throwing a chair at them. The alleged fight happened after he turned 18 years old, leading him to be charged as an adult and transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Lovato’s brush with the juvenile justice system started in Feb. 2023 when he was charged with battery on a peace officer and illegally possessing a handgun. He was granted supervised release from the YSC.
Then, in April 2023, prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder.
Second Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman points to Lovato’s case as a reason why he says changes are needed to New Mexico’s Children’s Code.
“When you tell a kid, ‘If you do this, this is the consequence so don’t do this,’ but they still do it and they suffer the consequence, they learn something,” Bregman said. “If you don’t follow through with the consequence, they think, ‘I can get away with this.'”
For his initial charge, Lovato was sentenced to one year in juvenile prison, also known as the Youth Diagnostic Development Center, which is run by the Children, Youth & Families Department. Lovato was transferred back to the YSC, awaiting sentencing for his first-degree murder charge. That is when the alleged fight with YSC staff happened.
Lovato is now facing four counts of aggravated battery upon a peace officer for the fight with staff.
The YSC has been the focus of intense criticism over the past year, stemming from an hourslong disturbance on Christmas Day last year, and a teenage escapee accused of murder.
After the Christmas incident, 4 Investigates revealed serious issues, including understaffing and a lack of training. 4 Investigates also found some staff were accused of antagonizing minor inmates.
4 Investigates is examining the evidence of a juvenile justice system once again under scrutiny in New Mexico with its “Missing Pieces” series. Watch the next “Missing Pieces” story Thursday at 10 p.m.