In yesterday's post, I went into detail about how a boy named Shad, whom I had known since the 5th grade, wound up getting involved in an armed robbery and murder when he was 16 years old. Today, I'm going to focus on what happened after he went to prison.
One thing I didn't mention yesterday was how brutal the incident was. The restaurant owner was shot five times when he was killed. The wife suffered from four gunshot wounds. So, this was not a case of "Oops! My gun accidentally went off!" or "I fired a warning shot and it hit you!" What happened next shouldn't come as a surprise.
I would imagine that Shad was counting down the days until he hit the 15-year mark and he would get released. During this time, there were reportedly several incidents of him getting his hands on drugs and getting high in prison. Around the 13-year mark, he may have realized that he wasn't going to be released after all. He filed a motion claiming that his public defender didn't properly explain the consequences of the sentencing and that he wouldn't have agreed to the plea bargain if he'd understood that he wouldn't actually get out in 15 years. There was a transcript of Shad's appearance during the plea, in which the judge at the time asked him if he understood that the 15-year release was no guarantee. Shad appeared to agree with everything during the proceeding. The motion was denied.
(And I would imagine that the public defender really didn't want to represent Shad at trial, considering the nature of the crime. The public defender was just doing what could be done to avoid the death penalty and probably misconstrued the truth about early release in order to get Shad to accept the plea agreement.)
After this point, Shad became more of a model prisoner and took measures to improve himself by taking courses and helping other inmates. After he had served 30 years, he was eligible for parole. But he was denied. The surviving wife testified to the parole board. (And I should mention that #2 was also eligible for parole at the same time.) I saw an article in which the wife stated she would show up and speak to the parole board every time the two of them were up for consideration. Parole was denied four more times over the course of the next few years.
The ACLU got involved in Shad's case to work toward keeping offenders under 18 from getting life in prison. I couldn't confirm this, but it would appear that the wife passed away before Shad's sixth parole hearing took place. Parole was approved for Shad and #2. Shad had spent 40 years in prison up to this point and was released.
In an interview following his release, Shad complained about the attitude of the parole board during the earlier proceedings and that they just weren't paying attention to him while he was making his case. Did anyone explain to him that the wife testified? Was the board not supposed to take her pain and suffering into account when considering parole for Shad?
That's the real issue. In everything I read and watched about Shad's case, I don't see him taking responsibility for what happened or showing any regret over his past. He just appears to blame peer pressure for his situation. You'd think after 40 years, he'd say something like, "I'm sorry for what I did. That was a big mistake and I should have known better. I blame myself."
Another thing came up during Shad's release. He claims to have moved around and gone to 12 different schools in the five years after he turned 10. So, four of those would have been Central Elementary, Zia Intermediate, Park Junior High and Artesia High School. But I don't know what the other eight schools would have been. Like I said yesterday, I wasn't aware of there being a time in which he wasn't in school in Artesia. But I wasn't tracking his attendance every day. And his father's obituary seems to indicate that he never left Artesia after moving there. Unless Shad was constantly being passed around to different relatives during this time, I don't see how he could have possibly been enrolled in that many schools.
Now, Shad's path to freedom doesn't end here. About six months after being on the outside, Shad became friends with a 19-year-old woman. The nature of the friendship isn't clear, but he was with her when she was arrested for armed robbery. Since Shad was not supposed to associate with criminals, he was also arrested for a parole violation.
Shad was supposedly not aware the woman had been involved in an armed robbery. Shad was denied representation and there was no appeals process for parole violation arrests. He wound up going back to prison (the same prison he had been released from) and was there for at least six months. The ACLU was able to step in and help, but there were a lot of roadblocks to getting him released.
(And it wouldn't surprise me to find out that the only reason the woman became friends with him was that she was planning to blame the robbery on him. I'll bet she actually attempted this and investigators probably laughed in her face.)
It looks like Shad eventually settled into a normal life. I see he had set up Facebook and Instagram accounts. (And #2 is one of his friends.)
And I recently saw online that people in the community where the murder took place still talk about it 40 years later. It had that kind of impact.
I was kind of worried that Shad would try to reach out to me to make amends (like you're required to do in a 12-step program). I was more concerned about having to pretend I didn't know he was in prison for 40 years. But I came to realize that Shad was likely the kind of person who would not make amends.
I seriously doubt I will ever hear from him.
Friday, July 11, 2025
Thursday, July 10, 2025
The Bully That Wasn't, Part One
I'm not back to blogging on a daily basis. I just wanted to get this one out because something caused this incident to rise to the surface. This was an article I had planned for a Friday post, but I needed to produce enough articles to build up some steam for a full comeback.
I had ignored this incident during the teenage years era of the blog. I had kind of forgotten it had happened, but then I remembered the individual involved and looked him up on the internet. I was very surprised at the way his life had turned out.
I first met Shad in 1974, when I first started attending Central Elementary school. He was shorter than me, but stout. He was in the other 5th grade class. We weren't really friends, but we didn't really get much of a chance to get to know each other. I really just remember once during recess, the boys from both classes were organized together to play keepaway. I noticed he ended up handling the ball less than I did. I really didn't like that my teammates didn't trust me with the ball. It wouldn't have surprised me to find out that he felt the same way about his team. Outside of this, I didn't feel like I had enough common ground with him to try to be his friend. All I knew about him was that he wasn't very smart and he didn't talk much.
I would sporadically see him from time to time as we attended Zia Intermediate for 6th and 7th grades and then Park Junior High for 8th and 9th grades. I don't recall a time that he wasn't going to school in Artesia (in that he might have moved in and out of Artesia).
So I was surprised when I was riding my bike around downtown Artesia and he approached me. He started saying mean stuff to me, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. He was trying to threaten me, I guess. I was bewildered. I didn't know what he was trying to say or wanted to do. Was he trying to start a fight? Why? What did I do to him?
I guess he wanted to bully me, and I was probably the only person he felt like he could bully. What was weird was that he never did anything at school. He would only try to give me grief if he saw me around somewhere outside of school. But I didn't consider him a bully. I knew that if he started to get physical with me, I would be able to take him.
I guess he figured out he really couldn't do anything to me, so he turned his sights on my brother Loyd. Loyd had just purchased some candy. Shad went up to him and threatened to beat him up if he didn't give him the candy. From Loyd's perspective, Shad appeared much bigger than him, so he gave him the candy and came home.
Later, Mom asked me if I knew Shad and said something about the encounter Loyd had with him. I mentioned that he had been acting like a jerk to me for pretty much no reason. She said something to the effect that he didn't have life so good at his home and he was taking it out on me and Loyd. I didn't know why he thought we had things better than him. He wasn't being forced to work at Dad's apartments. Shad came to our front door later and apologized for taking the candy. I wasn't in the porch area when this transpired. I was just looking out from the foyer.
I didn't have too many encounters with him after that. All he did was continue to act like a jerk if we saw each other. I once drove my car past the high school with Rad in the passenger seat. Shad threw a rock at my car from across the street. It hit the undercarriage. I stopped the car and glared at him. "Did I hit your car? "YES!" "GOOD!" I told Rad who he was and that he had once stolen candy from Loyd. That wound up being the last time I remember seeing Shad.
A few years ago, I remembered the stuff that happened with Shad and I was kind of curious about what happened to that guy. I had already passed my high school years in the blog, so I wasn't looking to go back and revisit it during this phase. It was surprisingly easy to find him on the Internet. And I was rather shocked by what I found.
(I should take time to point out that I normally don't go into detail about the bad stuff someone has done unless it actually affects me. And this did affect me because I was worried for awhile that Shad was going to attempt to reach out to me.)
So it turns out that about a year after my last encounter with Shad, he was involved in an armed robbery and murder that took place at a fast food restaurant in a small town.
From what I could gather from archived newspaper articles, this is what happened: One Sunday morning, Shad and another person (who I'll refer to as #2) went into the restaurant and held the owner and his wife at gunpoint. Supposedly, the owner begged for his life and told the two to take whatever they wanted. They went ahead and shot the owner and his wife, took $100 out of the register, got the owner's car keys, stole the car and drove to the next state over. The owner died, but the wife survived and was able to tell police what happened. (And there's no information about who shot who.)
(And I should point out that it's apparent that no one knew what they were doing. The morning would be a terrible time to try to rob a restaurant in a small town. Breakfast at a fast food restaurant averaged about $2 a person back then, so there couldn't have been much cash available at that time, even if 50 people had come in. However, it is likely that $100 was the most cash they'd ever held in their hands.)
Police in both states were alerted about the car they needed to be on the lookout for. About an hour later in the next state over, officers saw the car and gave chase. Shad and #2 drove off the Interstate onto a gravel road. There happened to be another officer on that road and he was alerted that the suspects were headed his way. He blocked the road with his car. When Shad and #2 were coming toward the officer, one of them reportedly leaned out the passenger side window and fired shots at the police car. The officer was not hit, but bullets went through the windshield. They then ran into the officer's car head on, got out of their car and ran off. After about an hour, officers searched the area and had them surrounded. They then surrendered and were arrested.
They were both extradicted to where the murder took place. Even though he was a teenager, Shad was charged as an adult. He entered a plea agreement and received a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. (Shad was supposedly encouraged to enter into this plea deal by his public defender, who said that he would avoid getting the death penalty and would likely get out in 15 years.) #2 had a trial and was found guilty. He received the death penalty. However, that penalty was overturned due to errors made in the sentencing phase.
It should be mentioned at this point that there was a third person involved in all this. (I'll call him #3.) Shad, #2 and #3 were all residents in a drug rehab program. #3 had a car and was getting ready to leave the rehab program. Supposedly, Shad and #2 invited themselves to come along. #3 thought they were going to want to be dropped off at a location along the way, but they continued to want to ride with him to his destination.
When they got to the small town, #3 allegedly ordered Shad and #2 to go in and rob the restaurant and kill the owner, and threatened to kill them if they didn't follow through. (And I'm assuming that everyone had guns in their possession at this point.) #3 appeared to have taken off after they went inside the restaurant.
Both Shad and #2 said that #3 was the person who planned the robbery and murder. As a result, #3 was arrested. During his trial, Shad testified about what #3 had told them prior to the robbery and murder. #3 took the stand in his own defense. He stated that he witnessed the robbery, but left after that. He did not witness the murder. In addition, the wife was not able to identify #3 as being at the scene. As a result, #3 was found not guilty.
Now, I have no idea if #3 actually threatened Shad and #2 into the robbery and murder. But I'll bet Shad was shocked at the outcome of the trial. He and #2 probably wanted to bring #3 down with them and they failed. I was not able to find out anything about #3's whereabouts after the trial.
(And I should point out that it really wouldn't have mattered if Shad and #2 had properly been sentenced to death. In 1986, Governor Toney Anaya commuted all current death penalties to life sentences before the end of his term.)
This all came to light recently when Loyd texted me to tell me about the recent flooding in Texas. A friend of his was trying to find his son. Rescuers wouldn't do anything for him because they were looking for the girls who drowned, so his friend went and got his son himself. Loyd said I would likely do the same for my son.
Loyd then recounted his encounter with Shad. He said that Dad always said he wouldn't fight our battles for us, but Loyd came home and told Dad about the big kid who stole his candy. He said that Dad ran out of the house without his shirt and took Loyd in the pickup. They found Shad four blocks away, eating the candy. Dad supposedly pushed Shad to the ground. Shad yelled, "I'm just a kid. I'm going to tell the cops what you just did!" Dad responded with, "The cops are afraid of me! Never come around my son again!" I was not aware Dad had gotten involved prior to Mom telling me about what happened with Loyd.
I immediately called Loyd and told him what I knew about the kid who stole his candy and what happened to him. After I told him when the robbery and murder had taken place, Loyd responded with, "That was just a couple of years after he took the candy from me! He was just a bad kid!"
And there was a lot more that happened to Shad after he was incarcerated. I'll go into detail about that tomorrow.
I had ignored this incident during the teenage years era of the blog. I had kind of forgotten it had happened, but then I remembered the individual involved and looked him up on the internet. I was very surprised at the way his life had turned out.
I first met Shad in 1974, when I first started attending Central Elementary school. He was shorter than me, but stout. He was in the other 5th grade class. We weren't really friends, but we didn't really get much of a chance to get to know each other. I really just remember once during recess, the boys from both classes were organized together to play keepaway. I noticed he ended up handling the ball less than I did. I really didn't like that my teammates didn't trust me with the ball. It wouldn't have surprised me to find out that he felt the same way about his team. Outside of this, I didn't feel like I had enough common ground with him to try to be his friend. All I knew about him was that he wasn't very smart and he didn't talk much.
I would sporadically see him from time to time as we attended Zia Intermediate for 6th and 7th grades and then Park Junior High for 8th and 9th grades. I don't recall a time that he wasn't going to school in Artesia (in that he might have moved in and out of Artesia).
So I was surprised when I was riding my bike around downtown Artesia and he approached me. He started saying mean stuff to me, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. He was trying to threaten me, I guess. I was bewildered. I didn't know what he was trying to say or wanted to do. Was he trying to start a fight? Why? What did I do to him?
I guess he wanted to bully me, and I was probably the only person he felt like he could bully. What was weird was that he never did anything at school. He would only try to give me grief if he saw me around somewhere outside of school. But I didn't consider him a bully. I knew that if he started to get physical with me, I would be able to take him.
I guess he figured out he really couldn't do anything to me, so he turned his sights on my brother Loyd. Loyd had just purchased some candy. Shad went up to him and threatened to beat him up if he didn't give him the candy. From Loyd's perspective, Shad appeared much bigger than him, so he gave him the candy and came home.
Later, Mom asked me if I knew Shad and said something about the encounter Loyd had with him. I mentioned that he had been acting like a jerk to me for pretty much no reason. She said something to the effect that he didn't have life so good at his home and he was taking it out on me and Loyd. I didn't know why he thought we had things better than him. He wasn't being forced to work at Dad's apartments. Shad came to our front door later and apologized for taking the candy. I wasn't in the porch area when this transpired. I was just looking out from the foyer.
I didn't have too many encounters with him after that. All he did was continue to act like a jerk if we saw each other. I once drove my car past the high school with Rad in the passenger seat. Shad threw a rock at my car from across the street. It hit the undercarriage. I stopped the car and glared at him. "Did I hit your car? "YES!" "GOOD!" I told Rad who he was and that he had once stolen candy from Loyd. That wound up being the last time I remember seeing Shad.
A few years ago, I remembered the stuff that happened with Shad and I was kind of curious about what happened to that guy. I had already passed my high school years in the blog, so I wasn't looking to go back and revisit it during this phase. It was surprisingly easy to find him on the Internet. And I was rather shocked by what I found.
(I should take time to point out that I normally don't go into detail about the bad stuff someone has done unless it actually affects me. And this did affect me because I was worried for awhile that Shad was going to attempt to reach out to me.)
So it turns out that about a year after my last encounter with Shad, he was involved in an armed robbery and murder that took place at a fast food restaurant in a small town.
From what I could gather from archived newspaper articles, this is what happened: One Sunday morning, Shad and another person (who I'll refer to as #2) went into the restaurant and held the owner and his wife at gunpoint. Supposedly, the owner begged for his life and told the two to take whatever they wanted. They went ahead and shot the owner and his wife, took $100 out of the register, got the owner's car keys, stole the car and drove to the next state over. The owner died, but the wife survived and was able to tell police what happened. (And there's no information about who shot who.)
(And I should point out that it's apparent that no one knew what they were doing. The morning would be a terrible time to try to rob a restaurant in a small town. Breakfast at a fast food restaurant averaged about $2 a person back then, so there couldn't have been much cash available at that time, even if 50 people had come in. However, it is likely that $100 was the most cash they'd ever held in their hands.)
Police in both states were alerted about the car they needed to be on the lookout for. About an hour later in the next state over, officers saw the car and gave chase. Shad and #2 drove off the Interstate onto a gravel road. There happened to be another officer on that road and he was alerted that the suspects were headed his way. He blocked the road with his car. When Shad and #2 were coming toward the officer, one of them reportedly leaned out the passenger side window and fired shots at the police car. The officer was not hit, but bullets went through the windshield. They then ran into the officer's car head on, got out of their car and ran off. After about an hour, officers searched the area and had them surrounded. They then surrendered and were arrested.
They were both extradicted to where the murder took place. Even though he was a teenager, Shad was charged as an adult. He entered a plea agreement and received a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. (Shad was supposedly encouraged to enter into this plea deal by his public defender, who said that he would avoid getting the death penalty and would likely get out in 15 years.) #2 had a trial and was found guilty. He received the death penalty. However, that penalty was overturned due to errors made in the sentencing phase.
It should be mentioned at this point that there was a third person involved in all this. (I'll call him #3.) Shad, #2 and #3 were all residents in a drug rehab program. #3 had a car and was getting ready to leave the rehab program. Supposedly, Shad and #2 invited themselves to come along. #3 thought they were going to want to be dropped off at a location along the way, but they continued to want to ride with him to his destination.
When they got to the small town, #3 allegedly ordered Shad and #2 to go in and rob the restaurant and kill the owner, and threatened to kill them if they didn't follow through. (And I'm assuming that everyone had guns in their possession at this point.) #3 appeared to have taken off after they went inside the restaurant.
Both Shad and #2 said that #3 was the person who planned the robbery and murder. As a result, #3 was arrested. During his trial, Shad testified about what #3 had told them prior to the robbery and murder. #3 took the stand in his own defense. He stated that he witnessed the robbery, but left after that. He did not witness the murder. In addition, the wife was not able to identify #3 as being at the scene. As a result, #3 was found not guilty.
Now, I have no idea if #3 actually threatened Shad and #2 into the robbery and murder. But I'll bet Shad was shocked at the outcome of the trial. He and #2 probably wanted to bring #3 down with them and they failed. I was not able to find out anything about #3's whereabouts after the trial.
(And I should point out that it really wouldn't have mattered if Shad and #2 had properly been sentenced to death. In 1986, Governor Toney Anaya commuted all current death penalties to life sentences before the end of his term.)
This all came to light recently when Loyd texted me to tell me about the recent flooding in Texas. A friend of his was trying to find his son. Rescuers wouldn't do anything for him because they were looking for the girls who drowned, so his friend went and got his son himself. Loyd said I would likely do the same for my son.
Loyd then recounted his encounter with Shad. He said that Dad always said he wouldn't fight our battles for us, but Loyd came home and told Dad about the big kid who stole his candy. He said that Dad ran out of the house without his shirt and took Loyd in the pickup. They found Shad four blocks away, eating the candy. Dad supposedly pushed Shad to the ground. Shad yelled, "I'm just a kid. I'm going to tell the cops what you just did!" Dad responded with, "The cops are afraid of me! Never come around my son again!" I was not aware Dad had gotten involved prior to Mom telling me about what happened with Loyd.
I immediately called Loyd and told him what I knew about the kid who stole his candy and what happened to him. After I told him when the robbery and murder had taken place, Loyd responded with, "That was just a couple of years after he took the candy from me! He was just a bad kid!"
And there was a lot more that happened to Shad after he was incarcerated. I'll go into detail about that tomorrow.
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