The investigation into the death of a 3-year-old girl took an unusual turn Monday when the lone two suspects, the girl’s mother and her boyfriend, were freed from the Denver jail without charges.
Miriam Gallegos, 20, mother of Neveah Gallegos, and Angel Montoya, 22, Gallegos’ boyfriend, had been held for more than a week, but the Denver district attorney’s office said it wasn’t ready to file formal charges Monday.
Prosecutors said they are “still waiting for a final report from the office of the medical examiner, which may not be available for several weeks due to the length of time it commonly takes to get test results.”
Dr. Amy Martin of the Denver coroner’s office declined to talk about specific findings in the case.
“We are awaiting numerous toxicology and other tests that are pretty standard in a case like this,” Martin said. “I’m not going to predict when everything will be completed. It is pending.”
Searchers found the girl’s body Sept. 24 in a shallow ravine in west Denver, just off West 11th Avenue and Perry Street, near her home.
Miriam Gallegos initially told police that Neveah had been abducted by two unknown men.
But according to an affidavit, she later told police she panicked after finding Neveah not breathing. Instead of calling for help, she said she and Montoya put Neveah’s body in two plastic trash bags and walked out the door.
On Monday the couple walked out of the Denver County Jail about 3:45 p.m. Montoya, a registered sex offender, left first but re-entered the building to make phone calls. Gallegos was released minutes later. They hugged and walked out of the jail parking lot hand in hand.
They are not being monitored electronically, were not required to post bail and have no obligation to remain in the community.
Lynn Kimbrough, a spokeswoman with the DA’s office, said the case and investigation are ongoing.
“It’s important to know that this is not the end of the case, not the end of the story,” she said. “We still have a very active investigation. This, unfortunately, is part of the criminal justice process.”
Kimbrough said prosecutors’ hands were tied by filing deadlines, and any effort to hold the pair on lesser charges probably would have led to their release anyway.
“Most of the other counts that could be considered at this point of the investigation were misdemeanors unlikely to keep them in custody,” she said of Montoya, who until Monday was being held without bail, and Gallegos, who was in jail on $500,000 bail. “There’s also the possibility by doing that charging, it could complicate future filing decisions.”
Kimbrough said she could not remember another high- profile case where defendants were released pending charges. She also said she wasn’t aware of any procedural problems with the case.
“I have not heard of anything that relates to (Miranda procedures or the search of Gallegos apartment),” she said. “It relates to needing more information from the autopsy.”
The family of the child whom Montoya was convicted of assaulting told 9News that Montoya is a danger to the community.
“It’s heartbreaking that he is out and about,” the boy’s mother told 9News.
Montoya was convicted of choking, tying up and kicking the boy, who is now 7 years old, in 2005.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
