NM AG Sentences Woman to 20 Years in Rio Rancho Child Abuse Death Case

Angelita Chacon, 54, of Rio Rancho pleaded no contest to charges including abuse of a resident resulting in death, and a judge accepted a sentence of 20 to 30 years in prison for the abuse and killing of Mary Melero, a 38-year-old intellectually and developmentally disabled woman in her care.

Judge Christopher Perez accepted the plea April 6 in 13th Judicial District Court in Bernalillo. In addition to the prison term, Chacon is jointly liable with co-defendant Patricia Hurtado for approximately $3.3 million in restitution: $861,649.47 to the State of New Mexico for Medicaid fraud and $2.5 million to Melero's estate. Chacon's full charges included false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, Medicaid fraud, and tampering with evidence.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered Melero on February 27, 2023, unresponsive on the floor of a white passenger van at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso. She was severely dehydrated and drugged, with open bedsores deep enough to expose bone, ligature marks consistent with prolonged restraint, and bruises and lacerations across her body. She could not speak or stand. Chacon and her then-girlfriend, Hurtado, had apparently been transporting Melero into Juárez, Mexico, seeking treatment for injuries the women had inflicted. Melero died on April 7, 2023, at University Medical Center in El Paso.

"The abuse and neglect that she endured was horrific and the injuries she sustained are among the worst I have seen in my career as a prosecutor," Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. Following the plea, he added: "Mary Melero deserved care, dignity, and protection, not exploitation and harm. Today's conviction ensures accountability and makes clear that anyone who exploits vulnerable individuals will face severe, life-altering consequences."

Chacon and Hurtado had been collecting roughly $5,000 per month through New Mexico's Developmental Disabilities Waiver program. Their provider organization, At Home Advocacy, received nearly $250,000 over three years for Melero's care. The last documented welfare check AHA conducted was January 25, 2023, a full month before Melero was found at the border.

Two co-defendants still await sentencing. Hurtado, 44, pleaded guilty in September 2025 to kidnapping and Medicaid fraud, agreed to testify against Chacon, and received a five-year prison sentence. Medicaid case agent Keyona Zamora pleaded guilty in December 2023 to three counts of Medicaid fraud and three counts of falsification of documents, having conspired with her mother while under contract with AHA. Zamora's sentencing will not proceed until the other cases are fully resolved. A third defendant, Luz Scott, had her charges dropped.

The case reshaped state policy. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered unannounced wellness checks on all 6,815 DD Waiver participants, with more than 75 employees from three state agencies conducting more than 1,000 in-person visits in a single weekend. Six neglect cases were identified; the state terminated contracts with four providers. A subsequent Legislative Finance Committee report found nearly 25% of case management providers were failing to adequately monitor clients, and fiscal year 2023 records showed 777 substantiated incidents of abuse, neglect, or exploitation among the roughly 8,000 people enrolled in the DD Waiver program.

Formal sentencing for Chacon has not yet been scheduled.