Rhyme could lead to jail time for NH students

Students are accused of threatening to kill the school principal, an assistant principal and a police officer with a 12-gauge shotgun in a poem

December 09, 2010 04:54 AM

By Pat Grossmith
New Hampshire Union Leader

CONCORD, N.H. — Two Merrimack Valley High School students are accused of threatening to kill the school principal, an assistant principal and a police officer with a 12-gauge shotgun in a poem they wrote while serving in-school suspensions.

Damien Issac Armendariz, 17, of 130 High St., Boscawen, and a 15-year-old boy wrote the verse together while serving the Oct. 18 suspensions, according to court records.

Police said the two-page letter/poem was about killing MVHS Principal Michael Jette and Assistant Principal Pamela Hill.

Armendariz was arraigned Monday in Concord District Court on two counts of criminal threatening and a charge of criminal liability for the conduct of another, all class A misdemeanors. He is free on personal recognizance bail.

Efforts to reach Armendariz Tuesday were unsuccessful. No school officials were available either.

On his Facebook page, Armendariz makes no direct reference to the matter. But two days after he allegedly wrote the verse, Armendariz wrote: “i cant look at myself the same anymore ... but we all make bad choices ... playin ball then cooking lasagna for the famm :P”

A friend urged Armendariz to keep his head up. “you’re a good kid. ... brush it off move on, all you’re friends still gotcha back,” the friend wrote.

The threats were reported to school resource officer Carl P. Notarangeli of the Concord Police Department on Oct. 19 by Assistant Principal James Tremblay.

Tremblay said he spoke with both students, who allegedly said they wrote it together. The younger teen, a 15-year-old boy, later made the same admission to Notarangeli, according to the officer’s sworn statement.

Merrimack Valley High School is located in the Penacook section of Concord, with students attending from surrounding towns including Boscawen, Loudon, Penacook, Salisbury and Webster.

A trial is set for March 9. Bail conditions bar Armendariz from having contact with either Jette or Hill.

New Hampshire Union Leader reporter Mark Hayward contributed to this article.