Defendants Charged in Death of Developmentally Disabled Woman

The New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) was successful in remanding defendants Angelica Chacon and Patricia Hurtado for tampering with their GPS monitors and texting each other – both of which are prohibited by their conditions of release.

Chacon and Hurtado will remain in custody until their trial in which they are accused of extreme abuse and neglect of a 38-year-old woman with developmental disabilities leading to the death of the victim, Mary Melero. Melero was discovered by Customs and Border Patrol agents in the rear seat of a white passenger van severely dehydrated and drugged with numerous open wounds, including chronic bedsores with exposed bone, bruises and lacerations on various parts of her body as well as ligature marks consistent with prolonged restraint.

Earlier this month, the NMDOJ brought the violations of conditions of release case to the Court, however the judge needed more time to assess the information. The hearing was rescheduled for today in which both parties were brought together and the NMDOJ produced strong evidence that resulted in the Court remanding both defendants, removing two allegedly violent and dangerous individuals from the streets of our community.

See links to the notice of evidentiary hearing as well as the addendum to the Motion to Revoke Conditions of Release filed by the NMDOJ.

This case was investigated by the NMDOJ’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau (MFEAB). The New Mexico MFEAB receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $3,451,202 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $1,150,401 for fiscal year 2025, is funded by the State of New Mexico.

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