By Vic Vela
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Another youth has escaped from a Children, Youth and Families Department facility, this time an 18-year-old serving time on an attempted murder conviction at a minimum-security unit in Springer.
State Police on Monday were looking for Anthony A. Herrera, who walked away Sunday during an outdoor recreation break at the Area One Juvenile Center on the campus of the old New Mexico Boys School. This incident is the latest escape problem for CYFD, which had two teens flee a lockup in Albuquerque in March and two others escape from an Angel Fire facility in April. “It causes us great concern,” CYFD spokeswoman Romaine Serna said of the recent escapes.
Herrera, who was sentenced to CYFD custody until he turns 21, was one of only four youths serving sentences at Area One. That unit, which shares a campus with the Department of Correction’s Springer Correctional Center for adults, has a four-person staff.
“It’s not a lockdown facility,” Serna said. “When we say ‘walk away,’ it literally means they walk away.”
Lax staff supervision allowed the escape to occur, she added, explaining that workers on duty did not keep the youths in their line of sight at all times, as required.
In a statement read to the Journal by Serna, CYFD Secretary Dorian Dodson said, “CYFD will not tolerate any actions on the part of our staff that compromise public safety, including this apparent gross dereliction of duty that resulted in the escape of this youth.
“However, we also will not abandon our core mission of rehabilitation. ... The problem was not the placement at Area One; the problem was the staff supervision and that is what we will address.” Disciplinary action will be pursued against the person or people at fault, Serna said.
Herrera, of Artesia, shot another Eddy County teenager - Cilio C. Hernandez - twice in the abdomen in September 2006. Herrera, who admitted to the crime in a state District Courtroom months later, was 15 at the time of the shooting.
Herrera was first jailed at the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center in Albuquerque when he was sentenced by District Judge J. Richard Brown for the attempted murder.
He was transferred to Area One in February after a CYFD team felt the teen would be a good fit for the minimumsecurity environment “based on the criteria they consider,” Serna said. She said CYFD had no problems with Herrera before his escape.
State Police Lt. Eric Garcia said investigators don’t know if Herrera had escape help from “either the interior or exterior” of the facility. Garcia said the area around the facility is “remote” and he was not sure how Herrera would be able to get home without someone’s help.
Garcia doesn’t think Herrera stuck around the Springer area after he left the facility. “We believe he’s going toward the southern part of the state,” he said. “All the tips that have come in to us so far are pointing to his home town.”
Assistant District Attorney Robert Perozynski - who prosecuted Herrera in 2006 - said Monday that he has notified the victim’s family of Herrera’s escape and that local police have been notified to be on the lookout for him.
Recent escapes by youths from CYFD facilities have kept CYFD in the headlines.
Serna said CYFD is doing its best to address the escape problems.
“CYFD has used the concerns to mobilize and attempt to make positive change so we don’t see a continuation of these events,” Serna said. “But we also have to understand when you run a juvenile facility there are certain events - no matter how unfortunate they are - that sometimes are just going to occur.”
Herrera is 5-foot-5 and weighs 110 pounds. His short, buzz-cut hair is black and he has hazel eyes. He also has a “575" tattoo on the middle finger of his left hand.
Anyone with information is asked to call State Police at (575) 445-5571 or 911.
Copyright 2009 Albuquerque Journal