South Valley woman accused of negligence in mother's death

Oct. 1—A South Valley woman is accused of neglecting her 83-year-old mother until she died from lack of care earlier this year.

Irma Valenzuela, 57, of Albuquerque is charged with an open count of murder and neglect in the January death of her mother, Margarita Esquivel-Valenzuela.

Valenzuela is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Valenzuela's attorney Chelsea Van Deventer told the Journal in an email that Valenzuela "is not a murderer but the loving caretaker of her geriatric mother who suffered from advanced Alzheimer's."

"The ultimate outcome of Alzheimer's is always death, and the disease and related complications are the reasons for the 83-year-old's passing," Van Deventer said. "It is unfortunate that the District Attorney's Office is compounding my client's grief by blaming her for her mother's death from a fatal, degenerative illness."

Prosecutors filed a motion to keep Valenzuela behind bars until trial, saying, "The victim was extremely emaciated. Many of her bones were visible and protruding."

"The defendant (her daughter) lived in the home and was determined to be the victim's caretaker ..." the motion states. "The defendant advised she felt overwhelmed by her mother's medical condition. That cannot serve as an excuse for neglecting her mother."

Court records state Valenzuela was arrested on Friday.

On Jan. 7, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office received a call of a suspicious death in the 2500 block of Apple Valley SW, between Coors and Isleta.

According to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court, when deputies arrived, they found Esquivel-Valenzuela in bed with cuts and bruises on her face. The complaint states her autopsy revealed she had pneumonia, a left femoral fracture, rib fractures and hemorrhages and abrasions to her face and neck.

Deputies said Valenzuela told them when her mother started to forget who Valenzuela was, the daughter became angry. They said she told them she had "already mourned her mother's death" in May 2023, the last time she took the victim to get medical care. "I just said, 'You know, she's not my mom anymore. She's somebody else.'"

The complaint said several months prior to Esquivel-Valenzuela's death, the victim lost the ability to eat solid foods, and "despite this, Irma did not seek medical attention for Margarita."

Deputies said when Esquivel-Valenzuela needed to go to the hospital to treat an injury, the daughter told deputies she did not know what to do. "I should ... I know I should've just taken her (to the hospital),'" deputies quoted her saying in the complaint.

The complaint concludes that the "investigation evidence indicates Irma Valenzuela neglected her mother Margarita Valenzuela to the point of death by willfully and deliberately depriving her of nourishment and medical care for approximately seven months; from her last medical visit in May 2023 until her death in January 2024."