Mother says don’t commute Marine’s sentence in shooting
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Richardson, Domenici say penalty against Iraq war vet who killed car thief too harsh
2/29/2008 - 3/1/08
The mother of Daniel Romero, a Santa Fe man who was fatally shot after he tried to steal a car in Albuquerque, has a message for Gov. Bill Richardson.The governor said this week he might commute the sentence of Elton John Richard, an Iraq war veteran who chased down and shot Romero.
"(Richard) murdered a person," said Mary Lou Jensen. "We have laws that tell us right and wrong. If (Richardson) lets him go, how many more Marines who get in trouble will get off?"
On Dec. 30, 2004, Richard heard a loud noise outside his home and found Romero trying to steal his vehicle, he said afterward. The two tussled in Richard's front yard and Romero fled. Richard, 30, gave chase and, after ordering Romero to stop about a quarter-mile from the home, fired one shot, hitting Romero under his right armpit.
Jensen admitted that her son was breaking the law before Richard chased and shot him but said the punishment didn't fit the crime.
"Definitely, he was doing something wrong," Jensen said. "Daniel should have been put in jail. But he paid the ultimate price. He paid death for trying to steal a vehicle."
Richard, a decorated Marine who fought in both Persian Gulf wars and was part of the 2003 rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch, pleaded no contest to a charge of voluntary manslaughter. He originally was charged with second-degree murder in Romero's death.
State District Judge Pat Murdoch sentenced Richard to two years in prison last week and required him to pay restitution of $500 a month for four years. Richardson's office described the sentence as harsh, and the governor asked Murdoch to reconsider it. The Governor's Office said Richardson has received dozens of calls and e-mails in the past week urging a pardon or clemency for Richard.
However, Murdoch said Thursday he would not reconsider. He said he had worked hard to reach a fair decision given the circumstances. "The governor can exercise his power to grant clemency whenever and however he deems appropriate," the judge said.
Richardson responded with an offer to consider executive clemency — but said Friday morning he had not received a formal request to do so from Richard's family or his attorney, Billy Blackburn.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., also chimed in on the controversy Friday, calling for a full pardon for Richard.
"I think the Richard case is unique, and I believe he should be given a full pardon," Domenici said in a news release. "I've studied the story of this terrible situation, and I told the governor I thought if the right procedures are followed that he should have mercy on this former Marine. I do not condone his actions, but I've come to believe that sending him to prison would be unjust."
Court records show Romero pleaded guilty to commercial burglary and disposition of stolen property in January 1991, and was twice charged with burglary and once with aggravated assault in 1988. But despite that record, Jensen said the youngest of her four children was not a career criminal. "Daniel was generous and kind and good," she said. "He would put his life on the line for anyone."
Romero did, in fact, put his life on the line in 2004, when he and his family were living in the town of Sapello north of Las Vegas, N.M., Jensen said. Her son smelled smoke, walked outside and saw the trailer next door engulfed in flames, she said. Romero ran into the house and carried out an elderly woman who was confined to a wheelchair and an elderly man, Jensen said.
Romero was living in Santa Fe with his wife and four children at the time of his death, Jensen said. The $500 a month Richard was ordered to pay would go to them, she said. The children are two boys, 17 and 10, and two girls, 9 and 6, said Jensen, who lives in Oregon.
Romero's wife, Barbara Romero, filed a wrongful death suit, which is still pending, against Richard in October, according to court records.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.
