ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – A New Mexico corrections guard under investigation after two violent inmates escaped from a prison transport van also has been accused of leaving inmates unattended in a hot vehicle, raising questions about oversight of prisoner transports in the state.
Officials disclosed in documents obtained by The Associated Press on Monday that Taracina Morgan, 38, and another guard were in charge of transporting two violent felons from the state penitentiary in Santa Fe to a correctional facility in Las Cruces.
Joseph Cruz and Lionel Clah escaped the van during a fuel stop March 9 along a remote New Mexico highway. They were apprehended days later, but authorities have declined to say what missteps by corrections staff may have led to the escape and how the inmates were able to slip past Morgan and fellow guard Michael Ortega.
Both Morgan and Ortega have been with the Corrections Department for more than a decade and have been placed on administrative leave as authorities investigate any possible misconduct linked to the escape, according to letters to the guards dated March 11.
Morgan also was named in a lawsuit filed last year against the Corrections Department that says she and another guard left inmates unattended for up to an hour in a hot van with inadequate ventilation in July 2013.