Boy waives hearing in family massacre

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Nehemiah Griego was supposed to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon on charges he murdered five members of his family.

Instead his public defender waived formal court appearance, so the boy remains at a juvenile facility on a no-bond hold.

District attorney Kari Brandenburg said Nehemiah Griego, 15, will be tried as an adult on five murder charges.

Less clear is what will happen to his 12-year old girlfriend.

Sheriff's investigators says she may have had knowledge of Griego's plans to murder his mother and was with him most of the day after he shot and killed his family.

The DA says her office is looking through state law to see what--if anything--she might be charged with.

"Right now we're kind of trying to think about what may be applicable or not," Brandenburg said.  "There's nothing that jumps right out at us."

Brandenburg says even though Griego's murder charges would carry a mandatory 30 year sentence each, because he's a juvenile the judge would have a lot more discretion when it comes to sentencing.