Latest news with #Torrez
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
NM Attorney General: NMSU making ‘remarkable progress' vs. hazing
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The New Mexico Department of Justice said New Mexico State University has made 'remarkable progress' in implementing reforms and addressing concerns after a hazing scandal rocked the men's basketball program back in the 2022-23 season. The state Department of Justice issued an update on Tuesday, May 20. Back in December of 2024, the state Department of Justice issued a comprehensive report about what it calls 'a troubling hazing incident involving the university's men's basketball team.' The report identified seven areas of concern and provided 35 concrete recommendations aimed at improving campus safety, accountability and compliance with federal law. State Attorney General Raul Torrez said that 'NMSU has taken swift and decisive action, completing nearly two-thirds of the 35 recommendations outlined by our office and making substantial progress on the rest.' Here is Torrez's complete statement: 'I want to commend New Mexico State University and its new administration for their valiant efforts to confront and eliminate hazing on campus. In response to our report, 'Title IX and Hazing on Campus: Lessons Learned from New Mexico State University,' NMSU has taken swift and decisive action, completing nearly two-thirds of the 35 recommendations outlined by our office and making substantial progress on the rest. I encourage every university in New Mexico to review this report and adopt similar reforms to foster safer, more supportive environments for their students.' NMSU President Valerio Ferme, who took the helm of the school this year, said: 'We want to thank the Attorney General's Office for its support in helping us understand these challenges. There's still work to be done to ensure our campuses are places where everyone, especially students, can safely pursue their educational and professional goals. We have an incredibly devoted group of leaders who are committed to making us better, and we will continue to dedicate time and resources to address hazing and harassment to the best of our abilities.' The hazing scandal led to the firing of men's basketball coach Greg Heiar. Former NMSU basketball player Deshawndre Washington is facing charges for allegedly sexually assaulting teammates and student managers during 2022-23 season. As we previously reported, his trial was scheduled to happen in April but was delayed. Two other players — Kim Aiken Jr. and Doctor Bradley — accepted plea deals. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
Injured suspect charged with theft and evading police
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Wichita man appeared before a judge Friday afternoon to hear the charges he faces after several alleged crimes, including allegedly ramming into a Sedgwick County deputy's car. Thomas Torrez's left arm was heavily bandaged as he appeared on camera. The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office said he had to have medical treatment after a K-9 helped capture him on Tuesday. He is charged with a string of alleged crimes that played out on Sunday, including driving a stolen car, fleeing police, ramming a deputy's car, not letting a female passenger out of a car, stealing another car, and more. The deputy had minor injuries. Law enforcement found him hiding in a refrigerator on Tuesday. The officers said he refused to come out, so the K-9 was sent to retrieve him. Charter bus headed to Emporia had liquid meth instead of passengers Torrez is charged with: Aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer, Kidnapping, Two counts of criminal damage to property, Theft, Fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, Leaving the scene of an accident, Driving while license is suspended or canceled, Aggravated burglary, and Interference with law enforcement. The judge set bail for Torrez at $500,000 and scheduled his next court date for May 22. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Topeka students celebrate Cinco de Mayo
TOPEKA (KSNT) -This Cinco de Mayo, local students honored traditions through dance, food and music. Holy Family Catholic School students spent the past few months learning traditional Mexican dances and preforming them for their families and friends. Jacob Torrez, a parent of one of the students who performed, acknowledges why it's important to do these dances. 'You know, you look back, and you see some heritage, some of the things that we don't ever really see other than, you know, at the Fiesta or something like that,' Torrez said. 'You typically get to see dancing like this and music there.' Another parent, Jennifer Holthaus, has been coming to this performance since her oldest child was in grade school. Her child is now 23-years-old. Topeka ice hockey team name chosen 'It's a good time to support the community and the school, and the kids have a lot of fun,' Holthaus said. 'It's good to get together with the parents and the families.' Rosa Munoz, who is a PARA and one of the teachers who teaches the students these dances, shared why she does it. 'Because of Covid, the traditions have kind of gotten lost,' Munoz said. 'The other PARA Miss. Sandoval and myself wanting to bring back our tradition and culture to the school like it was before.' This long-standing tradition is a chance for students and the community to connect with heritage, history and the meaning behind Cinco de Mayo. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
05-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Appeals court roundup: Hammond man's home invasion conviction upheld
The Indiana Court of Appeals issued three opinions Monday, including one case where they upheld a Hammond man's home invasion conviction. Valentine Torrez initially told police he was a victim, too, on Nov. 13, 2021, when a masked man entered his relative's unlocked door in Hammond, blindfolded, then sexually assaulted her and the woman's 12-year-old daughter. Later, he was charged when his DNA came back, including on the relative's lower back and the child's neck and underwear. Torrez, 50, got 33 years in May 2024 after he was convicted of rape, a Level 3 felony; child molesting, and criminal confinement — about half his charges. Prosecutors Arturo Balcazar and Lindsey Lanham alleged Torrez helped plan the home invasion with co-defendant Garrett Whittenburg to assault the female relative and take her credit cards. In a 3-0 decision, Appeals Judge Mary DeBoer rejected Torrez's argument that there wasn't enough evidence for his conviction. Prosecutors needed to show 'concerted action' with the child's assault. 'His course of conduct during and after the offense also supports that Torrez was an accomplice,' she wrote, later adding, 'Torrez left the home rather than assisting or seeking help for them.' 'Clearly, the jury found (the witness's) testimony credible and could reasonably infer Torrez's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence presented at trial,' DeBoer wrote. At trial, defense lawyer Kerry Connor argued some parts of the woman's story were inconsistent over time. Torrez can appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court. His earlier release date is in January 2047. Whittenburg's trial is scheduled May 12. Misdemeanor overturned after Gary man shot police dog The Appeals Court overturned a misdemeanor conviction for Spencer Patterson — after he shot a police dog when an officer was trying to arrest him — saying it violated double jeopardy. Patterson, 31, got eight years and has to repay $11,000 to Gary Police. Jurors acquitted him of attempted murder in the case of the officer, but they convicted him of battery by means of a deadly weapon, one count each of felony and misdemeanor resisting law enforcement, and one count of striking a law enforcement animal. Gary Police Sgt. Angel Lozano and his K-9 Falco were chasing Patterson in July 2023 on the 1000 block of E. 35th Place when Patterson shot the dog. In a 3-0 decision, DeBoer ordered Judge Salvador Vasquez to vacate — or cancel the lesser misdemeanor conviction, saying what happened was too close in time to be convicted twice. His earlier release date is in October 2030. Sentence upheld in rape case The court rejected a former Gary man's argument that his prison sentence was too harsh for a woman's assault. Tyron Smith, 32, got 16 years in December after he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery. He was originally charged with rape. In a 3-0 decision, Appeals Judge Elizabeth Tavitas said his sentence was appropriate. The woman told police she let him stay at her place in February 2024, then woke up overnight as Smith was having sex with her. She was 'very upset' and told him to stop. Smith then forced the woman to perform a sex act, then forcefully raped her, according to court records. He forced her to 'consume cocaine' between assaults, the affidavit alleges. The woman said he was abusive to her when drunk or high in the past, court records show. 'Given the brutal nature of Smith's offense and his poor character, we cannot say that his sixteen-year sentence is inappropriate,' Tavitas wrote.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Torrez's CYFD investigation will fail if it leaves people out
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says he's going to launch 'a comprehensive and wide-ranging investigation' into how the Children, Youth and Families Department fails children. Allow me to save him some time. I can just write the report now — and I'll throw in the news story that will follow. The story will go like this: The beleaguered Children Youth and Families Department and its embattled leadership are plagued with a shortage of foster parents and high turnover among demoralized, overworked and understaffed caseworkers, according to the blistering conclusions in a scathing report released today. We know this is what the report will say for a couple of reasons. First, almost (but not quite) all of that is true. Indeed CYFD's performance is every bit as awful as Torrez says it is. Second, it's what scathing reports on embattled child welfare agencies all over the country always say, particularly when those issuing the reports show no interest in real solutions. Real solutions have been in short supply in New Mexico. Instead, there's an endless appetite for rearranging the deck chairs on the child welfare Titanic: Create an ombudsman office! Take the agency out of the control of the governor! Move some functions to another agency! None of that ever works. Real solutions involve a single urgent first step: Viewing those who are investigated by CYFD and who lose their children to foster care as fully human — and worth talking to. That's not for the sake of the parents; it's for the sake of the children. Because it's the families needlessly investigated and the children needlessly taken who overload the system. That leads to tragedies ranging from children warehoused in hideous institutions or makeshift spaces to children in real danger overlooked in their own homes. It's not easy to rethink the stereotypes. We know the horror stories about brutally abusive or hopelessly addicted parents; but they're nothing like most of the parents caseworkers see. In 2022, the most recent year for which data are available, 78% of cases in which children were thrown into foster care in New Mexico did not involve even an accusation of sexual abuse or any form of physical abuse. Nearly two-thirds did not involve even an accusation of parental drug or alcohol abuse. In contrast, more than two-thirds involved 'neglect.' Sometimes that can be extremely serious; more often it means the family is poor. Indeed, CYFD admits that in 19% of cases, it took away children because of issues involving housing. So it's no wonder study after study finds that in typical cases children left in their own homes typically do better in later life even than comparably-maltreated children placed in foster care. In part, that's because of the enormous emotional trauma inherent in tearing a child from everyone loving and familiar. But there's also the high risk of abuse in foster care itself. Multiple studies find abuse in one-quarter to one-third of family foster homes; the rate in group homes and institutions is even worse. But when you overload the system with children who don't need to be there you create an artificial 'shortage' of foster homes — so more children are institutionalized, with all the horrible outcomes New Mexicans have seen. At the same time, all those false allegations, trivial cases and poverty cases overload workers, leaving them less time to investigate any case properly. That's almost always the real reason some children in real danger are missed. Real solutions demand doing more to ameliorate the worst hardships of poverty, and providing families with high-quality defense counsel; not to get 'bad parents' off, but to provide alternatives to the cookie-cutter 'service plans' often dished out by CYFD. But understanding that requires that first basic step: treating parents as fully human. Attorney General Torrez doesn't seem ready for that. As Source NM reported: Torrez's agency is also calling on current and former case workers, foster families, and youth impacted by the system to come forward with information … He's right to do that. But notice who's missing. He expresses no interest in hearing from birth parents who have lost children to the system because their poverty is confused with neglect. He shows no interest in hearing from the lawyers who represent them. He shows no interest in reaching out to anti-poverty organizations to ask them what they see when their clients interact with CYFD. He shows no interest in speaking to civil rights groups about whether they see all races treated equally when they encounter CYFD. That's a shame. Because, to paraphrase Torrez, I think we have all grown tired of waking up and hearing about another grandstanding politician holding another news conference to announce another investigation of CYFD that will solve nothing — because it avoids the problem at the root of all the rest: The only way to fix foster care is to have less of it.
