Put Romero back in jail
Attorney wants boy returned to custody for furlough violations

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

ST. JOHNS — Attorneys for Eryn Bloomfield flatly denied charges made by Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting in a response to Whiting’s request for the Apache County Superior Court to terminate her son Christian Ryan Romero’s furlough.

Romero is the 9-year-old boy who pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in his father’s death. He is awaiting sentencing in the death of his father’s friend Timothy Romans. Romero was 8 years old when he was arrested in the Nov. 5 shooting of his father Vincent Romero and Romans.

Whiting’s request asks that Romero be returned to the juvenile detention center “where he can be supervised and educated.”

Whiting filed the request with the Apache County Superior Court June 5 stating that Romero attending a Little League baseball game “caused an extreme negative reaction,” that Bloomfield took Romero out of state without permission causing Romero to miss his court-ordered schooling, that Bloomfield is living with a convicted felon and that Romero’s grandmother asked the St. Johns Police Department “how much trouble will I get in if I buy a gun.”

A response filed June 9 by Bloomfield’s attorney, D. Steven Williams, called the motion, “nothing short of a witch-hunt seemingly based entirely on unfounded speculation.”

“The state does not provide any information regarding where they are receiving their information,” he said.

The juvenile has not been to a baseball game since his furlough began, Williams said. He said that Bloomfield and Romero’s paternal grandmother deny that the incident where Whiting said that Romero ran into the dugout to watch the Little League game happened.

“Mr. Mike O’Brien, Apache County Juvenile Probation Department, likewise is unaware of any such incident,” Williams stated.

He further asked for the state to disclose of any witnesses to the incident.

Williams stated in the response that Bloomfield received a travel permit from O’Brien before traveling out of state and that the trip was made when Romero’s classes had been canceled for instructors to attend a conference.

“In short, any allegation that the juvenile missed schooling as a result of his approved travel to New Mexico is simply false,” he stated.

He further stated that Romero and Bloomfield are living with the paternal grandmother, and not with a convicted felon.

While Bloomfield did live with a felon for a time, she made arrangements to live elsewhere when she found out, her attorney stated.

Williams stated that the paternal grandmother inquired about purchasing a gun for a friend of hers from an officer who does so as a side business.

“She relayed that she would not bring the gun into the home, but simply give it as a gift, to the friend who resides out of state,” he stated.

The court will conduct a hearing regarding Romero Tuesday afternoon.