Nehemiah Griego entered the guilty pleas in state
children's court to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of
his parents and three counts of child abuse resulting in death in the
slayings of his three younger siblings — Zephaniah, Jael and Angelina.
He was 15 at the time of the January 2013 shooting.
The brief
hearing ended more than two and a half years of litigation as Griego
received extensive treament from the state, said Griego's attorney
Jeffrey Buckels. A weeklong hearing will be held in mid-January to
decide whether Griego, who is now 18, will be sentenced as a juvenile or
an adult.
"The parties believe that this agreement is the best
resolution for Mr. Griego and the State, as well as for the victim's
family, which was fully apprised of the agreement in advance of (the)
plea hearing," Buckels said in a statement.
Griego's sentencing
terms could range from probation to three life sentences plus 30 years
if he is sentenced as an adult, Buckels said. If he is sentenced as a
juvenile, he would theoretically remain in the custody of the state
Children, Youth and Families Department until he is 21, but that will be
up to the courts to determine after hearing from investigators,
witnesses and psychology experts in January.
Griego's family members did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After
the 2013 killings, authorities alleged that Griego reloaded his
parents' two semi-automatic rifles and put them in the family van and
planned to gun down Wal-Mart shoppers, though investigators had no
information that Griego actually went to a Wal-Mart the day of the
shooting.
A security official said that after the shooting, Griego
spent much of the day at his church, wandering the campus as dozens of
Sunday school teachers were being trained on how to deal with a shooter.
In
the weeks after the shooting, family members described the boy as a
normal teenager who was close to his family, loved wrestling with his
father and brother, played in the church youth band and was known for
his guitar solos.
His parents, Greg and Sarah Griego, were
well-known throughout the community for more than a decade of ministry
work with inmates at the county jail. Greg Griego, an Army veteran, also
served as a pastor at one of Albuquerque's largest Christian churches
and was a volunteer chaplain with the local fire department.
Sheriff's
officials said the teen told detectives he was angry with his mother
and had been having homicidal and suicidal thoughts.
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