On Aug. 18 at about 10:30 pm, the New Mexico State Police investigated a fatal crash on Interstate 40 around mile post 40 between Gallup and Grants.

The initial investigation indicated a 2017 Hyundai car was traveling east on I-40 at a high rate of speed in the right lane of travel. For unknown reasons, the Hyundai rear ended a Dodge truck that was also east bound in the right lane pulling a flatbed trailer.

The driver of the Hyundai, Lyric Young, 22, of Bullhead City, Ariz., sustained fatal injuries, and was pronounced deceased at the scene.  The driver of the Dodge, a 63-year-old Continental Divide, NM, man was uninjured.

After the initial crash, a semi-truck that had stopped at the scene was side-swiped by a second semi-truck. No injuries were reported in that incident.

Alcohol does not appear to be a contributing factor to the crash and seatbelts do not appear to have been properly utilized.  The crash is still under investigation and no additional information is currently available.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jerry Johnson, Jr., 57, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 161 months in prison for his second-degree murder conviction.  Johnson will be on supervised release for five years after completing his prison sentence.

The FBI arrested Johnson in July 2017 and charged him by criminal complaint with murdering a Navajo woman on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M.  According to the complaint, on June 26, 2017, Johnson struck the victim in the head with his fist, and then retrieved a knife and stabbed her in the back.  Johnson was indicted on a second-degree murder charge on Dec. 20, 2017.

On April 27, 2018, Johnson pled guilty to the indictment.  In entering the guilty plea, Johnson admitted that on June 26, 2017, he killed the victim by hitting her, and stabbing her once in the back with a kitchen knife.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni prosecuted the case.

She disappeared last year

The children of Nery Contreras face a life without both a mother and father. And this rapid change occurred in their lives within a matter of months in 2017.

Contreras, 30, functioned as the sole parent of his two children, Roselyn, 6, and Armando, 2, after their mother disappeared last September. He currently awaits his fate in a jail cell, facing deportation, after being arrested for his second DWI in November.

And it’s unclear what the future holds for their mother, Danielle Rae Vigil, 27, who has been missing for nearly a year. But, there’s hope. Vigil was sighted in Las Vegas, NV, and according to her mom Prudence Jones, her fingerprints were discovered by a Las Vegas detective, and there’s sightings to prove that she’s in Sin City.

Information on Vigil was first relayed during a Gallup Sun interview with Contreras’s mother, Elvira Amador, on July 10. Amador said that Vigil’s disappearance, and Contreras being the only parent to the children, was one of the facts they would present in the case to allow him to remain in the United States when he goes before a judge later this month.

“[We have to] send them letters about this, [telling them to] let him stay in USA for his children,” Amador said during that interview.

Jones contacted the Gallup Sun after she read about Amador’s plight, to share more information about her daughter’s case. She said her daughter was taken off the New Mexico missing persons list in June, since Vigil was spotted in the north side area of Las Vegas.

To that end, Jones has been spending the past several weekends traveling to Las Vegas, tacking up fliers around town, and asking residents if they know anything about Vigil’s whereabouts.

Jones said she hopes by sharing her story, people will better understand her plight. Her grandchildren could lose both of their parents.

“My heart is with my grandkids right now – I named them,” Jones said, during a phone interview Aug. 13.

Jones’s namesake may sound familiar to people in the Gallup area. In 2016, she came forward  with her story about the sexual abuse she suffered in her youth at the hands of Franciscan Brother Mark Schornack, OFM.

The case against the church, the Diocese of Gallup in particular, dominated several years of Jones’s life, which she said took a toll on both her and her family. But through it all, Vigil was a constant source of strength.

“She picked me up when I couldn’t go on with it,” Jones said in an interview Aug.14. “She always gave me hope.”

The talks for meditation in the case began in early 2015, which was also when Vigil’s father passed away. Jones noted that’s when she started to see a change in her daughter.

Jones also said she ended up in the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque in February 2015, a result of the mounting stress from the court case and her family’s personal struggles.

The first mediations began in May 2015, but those negotiations fell through. Jones said the outcome was disappointing, and it was made more difficult to accept because it happened at the time when Vigil started getting in to trouble with the law.

“It never occurred to me she was being affected,” Jones said.

The second round of negotiations began in December 2015. While further progress was made, those talks also came to a halt. The emotional toll on Jones continued to grow.

“The secrets were tearing me apart, the depths of deception in the church,” Jones said.

In 2016, Jones said the stress had mounted to the extent that she had a nervous breakdown. She left to stay in Denver, Colo. while her daughter remained in Gallup with Contreras and their young children.

Jones spent the latter half of 2016 doing everything she could to try and save herself and her family from the emotional toll brought on by the case. This culminated in Jones going public with her accounts, including appearing on the Santa Fe public radio series “Dark Canyon,” which investigates sexual abuse committed by clergy in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, and it explains how these accounts are kept secret.

Despite her history with the church, Jones said she considers herself a forgiving person.

“I’m not gonna blame the church, but I made them aware of the effects on the family,” Jones said. “Everything I’ve done in that case was for my family.”

Despite the settlement funds dispersed to abuse victims, including Jones, she said the fallout from the case affected her entire family.

“I felt ostracized from my community,” Jones said. “Once people find out my name, they treat me differently.”

Jones left Gallup in September 2017 to start a new life in Phoenix. But life took a sudden and tragic turn, when on Sept. 19,  Vigil was officially marked missing out of Williams Acres, N.M.

“Danielle left Gallup on foot; when she was last seen in Gallup, all she had were the clothes on her back. Her important papers like identification were left with Nery,” she said.

Meanwhile, Amador, the mother who’s caring for the tragic couple’s children in Gallup, feels the publicity about Vigil’s disappearance could hurt, more than help because of Jones’s involvement in the high-profile priest sex abuse case.

“You need to be careful doing these things,” Amador said.

But, Amador shares Jones’s sentiment of continuing to do everything in their power for the sake of their families.

“We’re fighting for the kids. I don’t want them to be in foster care,” Amador said. “No one else in Danielle’s family shows up to fight for them.”

Jones said she will do everything in her ability, including taking continual trips to Las Vegas, until her daughter comes home.

“Until everything is gone, I’m going to fight for my daughters and my grandchildren,” Jones said. “I saved myself, it’s up to me to save my children and grandchildren.”

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent

Family fighting to help him remain in the U.S.

When Nery Alejandro Amador Contreras, 30, was booked for his second DWI last November, it should have been a routine DWI case with court appearances, possible jail time and fines – or complete dismissal.

Instead, Contreras is now facing possible deportation to Mexico, pending the verdict of a trial set for Aug. 30.

Contreras’s mother, Elvira Amador, spoke about how his family and attorney are preparing their case to allow him to remain in the United States, and why their best opportunities are here.

“The life in Mexico is hard,” Amador said. “What will we do [if he is deported]?”

Specifically, Amador is referring to Contreras’s two children, Roselyn, 6, and Armando, 2, who are living with his mother while he sits in jail.

“He belongs with his babies,” she said.  “He’s a good boy and his babies need him.”

Amador’s family immigrated to the United States in 2001, and Contreras has lived most of his life here. The family settled near Oak Creek, Ariz., before moving to Gallup in 2006.

Contreras was pulled over by a Gallup Police Department officer, near Aztec Avenue and Highway South 602, and blew a 0.13 on two breath tests Nov. 28. He was initially detained at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center to await a hearing.

However, instead of posting bail and walking out of jail, Contreras was picked up by two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and taken into federal custody Dec. 1.

Contreras’s attorney, Brenda Villalpando, said Contreras was taken to the El Paso Processing Center for initial processing before being transferred to the Otero County Processing Center at 26 McGregor Range Road in Chaparral, N.M.

“Once he was detained at the county jail, ICE placed a detainer and the jail honored that detainer and that is why he was transferred to ICE custody after his DWI arrest,” Villalpando said.

But, it’s unclear who turned Contreras over to federal authorities. Gallup Police Department Capt. Marinda Spencer said that no one from the department notified ICE. District Attorney Paula Pakkala hasn’t returned calls regarding the matter, and Contreras’ mother, Amador, has her suspicions but hasn’t been able to verify the culprit.

Meanwhile, Contreras pled not guilty to the charges of DWI, driving with a suspended license, and failure to yield. After six months passed, and no charges had been issued, the case was dismissed without prejudice May 15.

Contreras was not present for those DWI hearings, and has been in detention at Otero County since December, Villalpando said.

Villalpando said inter-agency deportation is part of the Secure Communities program initiated under President George W. Bush’s administration, and then expanded under President Barack Obama.

The ICE website states the program: “will utilize all available data systems and Criminal Alien Program resources to identify and take enforcement actions against criminal and other priority aliens while they are in the custody of another law enforcement or correctional agency.”

But, what offenses are classified as “criminal” may be up for interpretation, based on Contreras’s case.

“People don’t get put up for ICE in Gallup unless they are a criminal,” Amador said.

Despite being booked for two DWIs, Contreras’s family does not believe he fits that description. This sentiment is shared by Villalpando, who said she has seen Contreras’s attitude improve over the past several months and that he’s committed to his rehabilitation.

“Nery [Contreras] is a very kind and respectful young man,” Villalpando said. “Since the first day that I met him, he has been very respectful and patient about the process. He understands that he does not have [citizenship] status and that he has made mistakes in the past.”

Villalpando also said they applied for a bond redetermination with Immigration Judge Jacinto Palomino in March and had the hearing in April, where Contreras testified that he is the only parent.

However, it appears Contreras’s testimony may not help his case, Villalpando said.

“The immigration judge did not give this any weight and held that he was a danger to the community despite of not having a conviction for the second DWI,” she said.

And while the drinking and driving arrest was an issue for the family, Amador said Contreras has good intentions and calls home on nearly a daily basis to see how his children are doing.

Amador also spoke about the community the family has embraced, and how they have benefitted from living in Gallup.

“In Gallup, we found jobs, a good life, a good people [and community],” she said. “We stayed here because we have opportunities we didn’t have in Arizona.”

The family hopes the trial turns out in their favor, which would reinforce the strength and resolve that has helped them to stay in this country.

“We can’t be afraid all the time, we need to be free,” Amador said.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent