By Milan Simonich
Texas-New Mexico Newspapers
SANTA FE — New Mexico’s most troubled inmate -- a murderer with multiple sclerosis and the mental capacity of a child -- completed his prison sentence Sept. 26.
He was free to go, but he elected to stay in prison. His reasons were simple.
Family members wanted nothing to do with him. Nursing homes would not take him. He was not sick enough to take up a hospital bed.
Rather than being dropped on a street and left to fend for himself, the man signed a waiver so he could remain an inmate, said Alex Tomlin, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections.
Prison administrators told state legislators that they made “a humanitarian decision” to continue housing an inmate who is incapable of taking care of himself.
Full story: Man remained in New Mexico prison after completing his sentence because he had no place to go