SENATE MEMORIAL 53

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez and Michael Padilla

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

HONORING VICTORIA CHAVEZ, GINA MICHELLE VALDEZ, CINNAMON ELKS, JULIE CYNDIE NIETO AND THE NINE "JANE DOES" OF THE WEST MESA MASS GRAVE.

 

     WHEREAS, in 2009, the Albuquerque police department unearthed the remains of thirteen individuals buried in an apparent mass grave on the west mesa of Albuquerque; and

     WHEREAS, it is believed that most of the remains belong to women who were buried there by the same individual or individuals; and

     WHEREAS, according to a February 2016 Albuquerque Journal story, only one Albuquerque police department detective remained assigned to investigate the deaths of the women buried in the west mesa mass grave; and

     WHEREAS, Victoria Chavez, who was last seen in 2003 and reported missing in 2004, was the first woman whose remains were identified by police; Gina Michelle Valdez, who had been missing since September 2004, was the second woman whose remains were identified by police; Cinnamon Elks, who had been missing since 2004, was the third woman whose remains were identified by police; and Julie Cyndie Nieto, who had been missing since 2004, was the fourth woman whose remains were identified by police; and

     WHEREAS, the Albuquerque police department compiled a list of women who have been reported missing, which includes Darlene Maria Trujillo, missing since 2001; Sonia Bernadette Lente, missing since 2002; Monica Diana Candelaria, missing since 2003; Jamie Barela, missing since 2004; Virginia Ann Cloven, missing since 2004; Doreen Márquez, missing since 2004; Anselma Guerra, missing since 2004; Evelyn Jesúsmaria Salazar, missing since 2004; Veronica Romero, missing since 2004; Anna Vigil, missing since 2005; Shawntell Waites, missing since 2005; Nina Herron, missing since 2005; Felipa Gonzales, missing since 2005; and Leah Rachelle Peebles, missing since 2006; and

     WHEREAS, families of missing women from across New Mexico file missing persons reports with police, to no avail, and these families continue to search, in agony and without support, for their loved ones; and

     WHEREAS, according to the federal bureau of investigation's national crime information center, there were eighty-eight thousand eighty-nine active missing person cases reported in the United States as of December 2017; and

     WHEREAS, the women whose remains were identified in the west mesa mass gravesite were depicted by both the police and the media not as victims of violence and crime, but rather as criminals themselves; and

     WHEREAS, the labeling of these victims creates an atmosphere of ambivalence with regard to the crimes that have been perpetrated against them, while also denying their humanity and their role in our communities as daughters, mothers, sisters, cousins, nieces and granddaughters; and

     WHEREAS, the deceased and missing women of New Mexico deserve diligence and respect under the law and in our public discourse, while their families deserve the right to carry their memories with dignity; and

     WHEREAS, communities across New Mexico are seeking further details and a more thorough explanation of the Albuquerque police department's and the federal bureau of investigation's treatment of the crimes committed against these women, in relation to the collection of evidence at the mass grave and in relation to the methods that were used to determine the facts of the disappearances; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico persistently has one of the nation's highest rates of women living in poverty, one of the highest rates of female homicide victims and the second-highest domestic violence rate in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, thousands of New Mexico women are not safe in their own homes, in their intimate relationships or in public spaces, and they lack the resources they need to escape the cycle of violence that traps them;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that, in recognition of the heinous crimes that have been perpetrated against Victoria Chavez, Gina Michelle Valdez, Cinnamon Elks, Julie Cyndie Nieto and the nine other "Jane Does" of the west mesa mass grave and in recognition of the missing women of New Mexico whose loss continues to be felt in communities across the state, the Albuquerque police department and the Bernalillo county sheriff's department be urged to proceed with due diligence in resolving these murders; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the mayor of Albuquerque and the members of the Bernalillo county board of county commissioners join in the effort proposed by this memorial to ensure that these crimes are thoroughly investigated and that the resources of the federal bureau of investigation, the Albuquerque police department and the Bernalillo county sheriff's department be employed in the most expeditious manner possible; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the media change its focus from an emphasis on the victims' characters and lifestyles to the provision of details of the heinous crimes that resulted in the mass grave on the west mesa of Albuquerque; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state of New Mexico ensure that services be available for addiction treatment and rehabilitation for women in need of such services and that state policy and funding be directed toward providing those services to the women who need them rather than toward the criminalization and incarceration of those women; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all New Mexicans be encouraged to show their support for women who are victims of violence or who are missing and for their families; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the mayor of Albuquerque, the chair of the Bernalillo county board of county commissioners, the chief of the Albuquerque police department and the Bernalillo county sheriff.

- 5 -