{"id":12916,"date":"2026-03-09T19:56:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T01:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/competency-raised-for-man-charged-in-infants-death\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:33:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:33:45","slug":"competency-raised-for-man-charged-in-infants-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/competency-raised-for-man-charged-in-infants-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Competency raised for man charged in infant\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"John
John Hannon, 43, of Flora Vista, N.M., has been charged with child abuse resulting in death in the killing of his 11-month-old son.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A McKinley County judge has stayed the case of a Flora Vista man accused of killing his 11\u2011month\u2011old son, whose partially buried body was found in a ditch two days after he was reported missing.<\/p>\n

District Judge Bradley Keeler suspended John Hannon\u2019s criminal case on March 3 and transferred it to the competency docket after a defense attorney\u2019s motion for a forensic evaluation.<\/p>\n

Hannon, 43, was charged Feb. 11 with first\u2011degree felony child abuse resulting in death and second\u2011degree tampering with evidence.<\/p>\n

The charges are connected to the death of his son, John Teigue Hannon, who went missing Feb. 7 from a home on County Road 3450 in Flora Vista while in his father\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

The San Juan County District Attorney\u2019s Office filed a Feb. 11 motion for a pretrial detention hold because of the nature of the crime and Hannon\u2019s criminal history.<\/p>\n

That same day, District Judge Curtis Gurley recused himself from the case. It was reassigned Feb. 20 to Judge Stephen Wayne, who also recused himself. District Judge Brenna Clani\u2011Washinawatok recused herself three days later, as did District Judge Brad Dalley. The recusals resulted in the case being transferred to Keeler of Gallup.<\/p>\n

Keeler presided over a Feb. 24 detention hearing to determine whether Hannon would be held in custody until trial.<\/p>\n

Nicole Hall, a defense attorney, told Keeler during the hearing that she wanted to waive the time for the defense hearing and request a competency evaluation.<\/p>\n

Hall filed the motion the next day, Feb. 25, and requested that Hannon be sent to the Department of Health and Human Services for a competency evaluation.<\/p>\n

Hall wrote in the motion that she \u201chas a good faith belief the defendant may not be competent to stand trial,\u201d because \u201che does not understand the nature of his charges and has apparent memory issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannon\u2019s criminal history shows a pattern of escalating violence.<\/p>\n

He faced multiple domestic\u2011related criminal charges in 2024, for which he received 84 days in jail and was discharged from probation unsatisfactorily, according to court records.<\/p>\n

The child\u2019s mother filed for a domestic\u2011violence order of protection for herself and her children, but it was ultimately denied.<\/p>\n

Jake Thompson, spokesman for the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, confirmed that his agency has \u201ca history of involvement with this family.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this case, the child\u2019s mother, Krystal Phillips, called in a missing\u2011child report at 9:38 p.m. Feb. 8 from a home on County Road 3450 in Flora Vista.<\/p>\n

Phillips told investigators she \u201cfeared something bad had happened to her son,\u201d because on Feb. 7, Hannon took the infant on a walk and then claimed he left the boy in the care of a grandparent who lives in Colorado, according to the affidavit for arrest warrant.<\/p>\n

Hannon reportedly walked through a property off New Mexico Highway 516 while pushing a stroller, which was found in a ditch, the affidavit says.<\/p>\n

Deputies searched the area Feb. 9 and found the 11\u2011month\u2011old\u2019s head and left arm buried in dirt, while his torso and legs were visible. Hannon\u2019s shoe prints were found in the same location, the affidavit says.<\/p>\n

A doctor who examined the body told sheriff\u2019s detectives the infant suffered a skull fracture and an abrasion on his forehead before death. The child likely was alive when his father allegedly buried his face in the dirt, the affidavit says.<\/p>\n

Hannon reportedly admitted to burying the child, saying, \u201cI knew he was dead,\u201d according to the affidavit for arrest warrant.<\/p>\n

Keeler signed an order March 3 to transfer the case to the competency docket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ordered to undergo forensic evaluation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-12916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12916"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18723,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12916\/revisions\/18723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12916"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=12916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}