4-year-old’s death in New Mexico raises CYFD transparency concerns

A 4-year-old boy killed in 2019 in New Mexico is raising questions about how the state’s child welfare agency handles cases of alleged abuse. James Dunklee died after being returned to her care by the Children, Youth and Families Department, his grandfather said.

James Dunklee died on December 10, 2019. According to court documents cited by KRQE News 13, “CYFD had documented previous allegations of abuse” against his mother, and “there was a safety plan in place where James was not supposed to be cared for by the defendant.”

James had been living with his grandfather, Kevin Nelson, for more than a year. Nelson said the boy’s mother dropped him off “bruised, hungry, smelling of urine with tattered clothes.”

“We took James in,” Nelson said. “We took care of him and he was happy.”

Nelson said one day CYFD and Albuquerque police showed up at his door saying the mother, Krista Cruz, wanted him back. Nelson said he pleaded with them and warned them the boy would be in danger, but the boy was taken anyway.

“He was a loving little boy,” Nelson said. “I mean, I’d walk in and see him, he’d run to me and say ‘papa’ and grab ahold of my leg, and he would hug my leg.”

Nelson never saw his grandson alive again. He learned after James’ death that the boy was living at the Cinnamon Tree Apartments on Central and Louisiana with his mother, her friend, and the friend’s husband, Zerrick Marquez.

James was pronounced dead at a hospital on the night of December 10, 2019. Paramedics had tried to revive him.

The autopsy found a lacerated liver and pancreas, bruising on the lungs and intestines, a large amount of blood in his abdomen, and a skull fracture. James had bruises on his hips, ribs, cheek, bicep, ear, lower neck, the bridge of his nose, elbow, middle of his back, buttocks, knees, and shoulders, along with two knots on his head, a bloody upper ear and chin, scratches on his chest, neck, and chin, and a large portion of the inside of his bottom lip missing.

Marquez is alleged to have killed James.

Brian Blalock, secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, said he could not discuss the specifics of James’ case. “So I can’t talk about an individual case,” Blalock said.

Blalock has led the department for a little over a year, and the Dunklee case is the first highly publicized child death under his watch.

“My reaction to any child dying is incredible grief because it’s a great tragedy,” Blalock said. “I think New Mexico is in crisis right now for many reasons related to over well-being of our children and our families.”

The Children’s Code is a state law that protects the privacy of children who are allegedly abused. It bars CYFD from releasing information or records about a party to neglect or abuse cases to the public. The rules change when a child dies, at which point CYFD has to release basic information about the child and a summary of the investigation. CYFD told KRQE News 13 it would release information in the Dunklee case when the investigation is complete.

Senator Michael Padilla, a Democrat from Bernalillo County, has worked on the issue for years and grew up as a foster child. “I came to the legislature wanting to work on this issue,” Padilla said. “Me and my sisters said if there was anything we could do; we would do it and here we are.”

“When a child like this, a situation happens – he is all of our son, he belongs to all of us and we all need to learn from this situation,” Padilla said. “Transparency is absolutely key accountability being able to understand what happened in this case and previous cases that have happened.”

“We have had some of the worst crimes against children in New Mexico over the last decade,” Padilla said, adding that there is much more work to be done. Padilla said he intends to push for a complete and full rewrite of the Children’s Code.

Blalock pointed to a reason for privacy in child abuse cases, especially those where a child doesn’t die.

“You don’t want a youth to have something that is attached to them that is the result of the worst day of their life,” Blalock said. “It’s a stigma that follows them throughout their life.”

He said his office is working toward more transparency.

“I think that it is vital and I think that is the constant tension for us,” Blalock said. “We want to give as much as info responsibly as long as it’s in best interest of the children and our families, and allowable under law.”