Supreme Court upholds conviction 6-year-old girl's killing

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday upheld the conviction of Leland Hust in the 2018 rape and strangulation death of a 6-year-old Rio Rancho girl.

The high court rejected the argument of Hust’s attorneys that a judge erred in allowing the prosecution to present certain DNA evidence during the trial.

Hust, 27, was convicted by a Valencia County jury in 2022 of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and child abuse resulting in death.

Judge George Eichwald of the 13th Judicial District sentenced Hust to 48 years in prison for the crimes.

Ariana “Jade” Romeo was found dead, partially clothed and bloodied on Aug. 11, 2018, in a converted garage in Rio Rancho. A forensic examination found that she had been raped and strangled or smothered to death.

Hust’s attorneys argued that the court erred in allowing testimony about Y-STR DNA during the trial that was unfairly prejudicial and misled the jury.

The DNA test results indicated that Hust could not be excluded as a source of the male DNA found on a mattress at the scene of the killing.

The defense argued that the “poor quality” of the Y-STR DNA evidence “was not adequately explained to the jury” and that the prosecution “used this weak DNA evidence to mislead the jury into believing” that Hust committed the crime.

Justice Briana Zamora, writing for the unanimous five-member court, said that while the DNA evidence was prejudicial, testimony about the evidence was relevant to the case and that defense attorneys had “ample opportunity to challenge” the evidence at trial.

Defense attorneys also argued that “whisper” comments that Hust made while left alone in an interview room were prejudicial because they showed Hust struggled with mental illness.

The comments included, “I had to have done it after falling asleep,” ... “that evil me, he was in the box,” and “no one was safe around him if he got out of that box.”

Justices agreed with prosecutors that the comments were relevant because they spoke to Hust’s consciousness of guilt and his “belief that some part of him committed the crime.”