On January 19, 2013, a tragic and devastating mass shooting occurred in South Valley, New Mexico, resulting in the deaths of five members of the Griego family. Among the victims was Sarah Christine Griego, aged 40, who was the mother of the family. Sarah and her husband, Greg Griego, 51, a former pastor at Calvary Church and a chaplain to the Albuquerque Fire Department, were both active in prison ministry and had a total of ten children, several of whom were older than the perpetrator.
The perpetrator of this horrific crime was Nehemiah Griego, the 15-year-old eldest son of the family. According to police reports and statements made by Nehemiah, he began the violent sequence of events around midnight by shooting his mother, Sarah, with a. 22 rifle while she was asleep. His 9-year-old brother, Zephaniah, woke up after the gunfire and was subsequently shot by Nehemiah with the same rifle. Nehemiah then proceeded to the bedroom shared by his two younger sisters, Jael, 5, and Angelina, 2, and fatally shot each of them in the head.
Nehemiah Griego was arrested and charged with the murders of his family members. He was booked into the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center and faced charges of two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death. During his initial interactions with police, Nehemiah agreed to speak without an adult or lawyer present. He provided a detailed account of the events, stating that he had been having suicidal and homicidal thoughts and had planned the killings for days. He also mentioned that he had obtained the guns from his parents' closet, where his father had stored them and taught both him and his mother how to use them.
Nehemiah's actions did not stop at the murder of his family. After the shootings, he took a set of car keys from his mother's purse, drove the family van to the church, and had two rifles with him. When questioned by police about why he did not call 911 and why he drove to the church with the rifles, Nehemiah explained that he had panicked. He also sent an email with a photo of his dead mother to his girlfriend.
The legal proceedings in this case were complex and prolonged. Initially, Nehemiah pleaded not guilty due to insanity, but by October 2015, he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death. The case was at a standstill for several years due to mental health evaluations and debates over whether Nehemiah should be treated as a juvenile or an adult. In August 2019, Judge Alisa Hart of the 2nd Judicial District Court ruled that Nehemiah, then 22 years old, was not amenable to treatment or rehabilitation in available juvenile facilities and should be sentenced as an adult.
As a result, Nehemiah Griego was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences plus seven years to run consecutively with the life sentences. He received credit for the 2,476 days he had already served, and he must serve a total of 30 years before being eligible for parole. He is currently incarcerated at the Lea County Correctional Center.
