A Flora Vista couple were arrested Oct. 21 on suspicion of felony child abuse nearly a month after were removed from their home, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Lindbergh Andrew Alonzo, 42, and Alexis Marie Alonzo, 28, were jailed in the San Juan County Adult Detention Center on charges of first-degree abuse of a child resulting in great bodily harm. Alonzo Lindbergh also was charged with tampering with evidence.
Chief Deputy District Attorney, Dustin O’Brien stated that four children, ages 16, 12, 5 and 3, were removed from the home.
One child, a 16-year-old boy, suffered from severe malnutrition and was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. His physical condition, along with other evidence, indicated “severe malnutrition and starvation” as well as “isolation and confinement,” according to Dr. Leslie Strickler’s report for the New Mexico Pediatric Emergency Department. He weighed 79.58 pounds and was 5.18 feet tall.
Strickler advised that if the boy were returned to the home, he likely would die.
Before deputies and officials with the Children, Youth and Families Department entered the home, Alexis Alonzo reportedly said the oldest boy “has an eating disorder, he always has, even worse since he got his autistic medication.”
Neither parent was home when deputies arrived at the home Sept. 16. The two deputies made contacted Alexis Alonzo through a doorbell camera, and she said she would be home soon.
After the Alonzos arrived, Lindbergh Alonzo was allowed in the house for about 10 minutes. When deputies entered, they found two children in the living room. The boy appeared to be getting dressed, moved slowly and seemed lethargic, a deputy said, and wore a diaper.
Two younger children also were removed.
Deputies reported that the children’s bedroom doors had no doorknobs and that a camera was mounted above a bunk bed at ceiling level. The closet had another camera, but was empty except for a couple of plates, cups and a water bottle that later proved to contain urine, the report stated.
As the deputies talked with Alexis Alonzo, the cameras reportedly were removed by Lindbergh Alonzo, who said they were live feed and did not record video.
Based on social workers’ and deputies’ findings and interviews with the children, the children were removed from the home and taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center for screening. The 16-year-old boy found in the home was given six boxes of food, according to the report by Detective Christopher Headley.
Evidence obtained during a court-authorized search included phones, iPads, Gameboy, 32 gig micro SD card, USB drives, DVD/CD/flash drives, photographs, black and pink tasers and a deadbolt lock.
The Sheriff’s Office was notified in early October by CFYD that foster parents assigned to the children were being told of abuse in the Alonzo home and on Oct. 17, the boy in foster care was interviewed at Childhaven in Farmington. He reported that on the day of the arrest, he and his sister were inside the locked closet.
“I was kind of trying to preserve my parents right there,” he said.
According to the report, the boy said his mother appeared on a camera and said, “They called on us.” He said she told them to lie.
The boy told the detective he would be deprived of food when disciplined and would be hit with a belt or slipper, shoe, coat hanger or a branch. He said Alexis Alonzo would stop hitting him if he said he wouldn’t make her mad.
He described the deadbolt as silver with a key and said he was let out of the closet to go to the restroom and to shower. He said had been in the closet for 24 hours, urinated in a bottle and ate sandwiches provided by his mother.
He indicated that only his mother hit him, while his father was at work or in college classes.
The Sheriff’s Office report revealed that Lindbergh Alonzo is employed locally by the Air Force at Raytheon Technologies.
A Sheriff’s Office report on Sept. 16 stated that CFYD received a call in 2018 about injuries to the boy, and that social workers received about 20 calls when the family lived in California.
The Alonzos said their oldest son left home at age 18.
O’Brien said Lindbergh Alonzo faces charges of bribery of a witness, in addition to child abuse and tampering with evidence.
According to nmcourts.com, Alexis Alonzo faces a charge of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm and two counts of bribery of a witness.
Both are scheduled for arraignment on Dec. 19 at 1:30 p.m. in 11th District Court in Aztec.
