Juan Lerma’s conviction in the death of his 8-year-old daughter was upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court, maintaining his life sentence in prison for child abuse.
Lerma was convicted Nov. 18, 2022 after a jury trial in Fifth Judicial District Court on a single count of intentional child abuse resulting in death of a child younger than 12. He was arrested in 2020 and charged in the death of his daughter Samantha Rubino who police said was found dead and wrapped in plastic bags and hidden in a trashcan outside Lerma’s Carlsbad home.
Medical examiners determined Rubino died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Her father was sentenced to life in prison in December 2022 by Fifth Judicial District Judge Jane Shuler-Gray, and filed an appeal in January 2023 which was denied by the New Mexico Court of Appeals a month later.
The case was then moved to the New Mexico Supreme Court which ruled May 6 to deny the appeal and uphold Lerma’s conviction and sentence.
In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Lerma argued misconduct on the part of prosecutors with the Fifth Judicial District Attorney’s Office and by Shuler-Gray.