Additional details outlined in disabled woman’s death

Two caregivers and another person have been charged in the April death of a 38-year-old developmentally disabled woman who was found to have suffered “horrific” injuries related to abuse while in the state’s care.

The abuse case is the one that led the state to terminate contracts with four health care providers involved and, on Thursday, Attorney General Raúl Torrez suggested reforms to the state’s Developmental Disabilities Waiver program.

Torrez described the abuse as “nothing short of torture.”

He said the DD waiver program “when it is well-executed” allows for adults and children with disabilities to be cared for outside of institutions and in the community, looked after by either loved ones or trained professionals.

That was not the case for Mary Melero.

Authorities uncovered the alleged abuse on Feb. 27, when Angelita Chacon and her girlfriend, Patricia Hurtado, tried to drive a van across the border to Mexico. Melero was on the floor of the van with severe injuries: bedsores that went to the bone, open wounds that were septic and bruises from being restrained, according to court records.

Melero reportedly had been left in a bath at Chacon’s home for days at a time in her own urine and feces, among other abuses.

Border Patrol agents who found Melero described her as wanting to speak “however, only tears fell from her eyes.” One agent was so disturbed that he warned a colleague to not look, that he “didn’t want to see this.”

Melero was taken to an El Paso hospital, where she had a heart attack and never regained consciousness before being taken off life support on April 7.

On Tuesday, Chacon, 52, Hurtado, 42, both of Rio Rancho, were charged with abuse and neglect of a resident resulting in death, false imprisonment, failure to report and conspiracy in the case. Luz Scott, 53, of Clovis, who allegedly let the women use her van to take Melero to Mexico, is charged with false imprisonment and conspiracy.

If convicted, Chacon and Hurtado — who have been booked into jail — face up to 20 years in prison. Scott, who has a warrant out for her arrest, faces up to three years in prison.

It is unclear if any of the three women have an attorney.

Background

Chacon is a convicted felon, charged with auto theft in 1999, who was initially denied a 2014 application to be a caregiver for the state’s DD waiver program. Torrez’s office said Chacon filed an appeal and the ruling was overturned. That’s when she began caring for her son, now 29, who is developmentally disabled and on the waiver program.

Torrez said Melero’s mother — her primary caregiver — died several years ago and in October 2020 she was placed in Chacon’s care.

Torrez said Chacon collected $236,000 in Medicaid funding since then for caring for Melero and Chacon’s son. Like Chacon, Hurtado collected $2,500 a month to care for Melero, although it is unclear the total amount she was given.

In March, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state’s Department of Health terminated its contracts with At Home Advocacy Inc., New Vision Case Management, Lynn Barbour, LLC and Sylvester & Company, which had collected hundreds of thousands in Medicaid dollars for overseeing Melero’s care.

On Thursday, Torrez said At Home Advocacy Inc., which provides residential in-home care, documented several visits to Chacon’s home up to a month before she showed up at the border. He said his office is looking into the quality of those visits and whether they had even occurred or were just billed.

At Home Advocacy said, in a released statement, “All instances of neglect and abuse must be addressed head on. The recent arrests are an important step in doing just that. We intend to continue cooperating with investigators, as we have all along.”

None of the other providers could be reached for comment.

In all, officials said the four companies provided care for up to 700 adults and took in anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of federal dollars for those services.

In March, Lujan Grisham also announced a plan to check in on thousands of other disabled adults who receive care as part of the state program.

At the news conference Thursday, Torrez said the state had done wellness checks on 6,800 DD waiver participants between March 20 and April 21. He said officials found 61 cases of possible substantiated abuse and eight of those have been referred to Torrez’s office for possible prosecution.

Torrez said they are all active investigations and no charges have been filed.

“I have a suspicion that before we are done, we will have several more instances of, not only criminal referrals, but likely prosecutions resulting from abuse and neglect in this population,” he said. “But it is difficult, at this point, to know how wide and how severe this problem truly goes.”

Melero’s case

When Melero was placed in Chacon’s care in 2020 she could reportedly walk, talk, shower and make simple meals for herself. By the time she was found, authorities say Melero was clinging to life.

On Feb. 27, Chacon and Hurtado tried to drive into Ciudad Juárez around 7 p.m. but Mexican authorities thought they were “suspicious” and found marijuana inside the van, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Sandoval County Magistrate Court. The pair were ordered back to the El Paso checkpoint for further inspection and agents found Melero on a piece of foam under the backseat.

Authorities said Melero’s lips were stitched, she had “huge” bedsores and dirty bandages covered open wounds on her body. Chacon told agents she gave Melero the antihistamine Benadryl and was bringing her to a doctor in Mexico because hospitals in America couldn’t treat her.

After Melero was taken to a hospital, Chacon was “cold and indifferent” and she and Hurtado were eager to head back to Rio Rancho, according to the affidavit. Melero had a heart attack — caused by septic shock from the wounds covering her body — shortly after arriving and she lost consciousness.

Authorities said the van was registered to Scott and she had followed behind the van in Chacon’s car on the trip to Mexico. Scott told New Mexico State Police Chacon had called her and asked if she could bring penicillin to her Rio Rancho home.

Scott told police when she saw Melero’s wounds, she told Chacon antibiotics wouldn’t do any good, according to the affidavit. She said Chacon asked to borrow her van to seek help in Mexico.

Authorities said Scott then asked for an attorney.

On March 10, Chacon told FBI agents that Melero came to live with her on Oct. 31, 2020, describing her as “so smart” but also “sneaky, conniving.”

Agents said Chacon told them Melero “broke her” and she “couldn’t take it anymore.” She told agents Melero had recently thrown a stereo at her so Chacon threw it back, splitting Melero’s lip.

Chacon told agents she didn’t seek medical help, fearing her son would be taken from her care, and had a friend stitch Melero’s lips with a kit bought online, according to the affidavit. Chacon detailed multiple physical fights between Melero and her, with Hurtado also getting involved.

Agents said Chacon told them she “begged” a supervisor with At Home Advocacy Inc. to remove Melero from her home but they did nothing. Chacon also said AHA was billing for nursing hours that never happened.

Chacon told agents in November or December Melero got “combative” and started defecating and urinating in the bath tub, according to the affidavit. She said she would leave Melero in the tub, covered in her own waste, for up to three days — only asking if she wanted anything to eat.

Agents said Chacon told them she told Melero “she could stay like that if she wanted to live like that” but she reported the behavior to AHA. Chacon said after one fight in which Hurtado repeatedly hit Melero in the head, an AHA supervisor told her to “call the cops.”

Chacon told agents a “behavior consultant” with Lynn Barbour LLC told her “she had the right to defend herself (against Melero) in any way she could,” according to the affidavit. Chacon said in January Melero began to defecate and urinate all over her room and, on Feb. 28, she saw Melero’s wounds “and panicked.”

Agents said Chacon told them she didn’t want to take Melero to a hospital in New Mexico out of fear her son would be taken away due to Melero’s injuries. Chacon said they were going to a hospital in Texas but “made a wrong turn” into Mexico.

The FBI called the AHA supervisor and she told them Chacon received just over $5,000 monthly to care for both her son and Melero.

Agents said AHA received more than $236,000 in Medicaid dollars for Melero’s placement and care since February 2020. The provider documented nine instances where they billed for services, for visits or otherwise since July 2022.

Agents said the supervisor told them Melero had weekly video visits with a behavior consultant and monthly wellness visits at Chacon’s home, according to the affidavit. She said the last home visit was Jan. 25 and “body checks” were not done but no injuries were seen on Melero.

The supervisor told agents the next wellness visit was set for Feb. 27 but Chacon called to reschedule.

On April 7, Melero was taken off life support after being on a ventilator for 35 days.

An official cause of death has not been released by the Office of the Medical Investigator. Doctors told agents Melero came in suffering from sepsis and pneumonia.