LAS VEGAS, N.M. — A couple who ran a Las Vegas-area boarding home is facing criminal charges after two residents died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a backyard shed last year.
State Police say 47-year-old Jose Encinias and his 41-year-old wife Denise A. Encinias are accused of two counts of neglect of a resident resulting in death.
The couple pleaded not guilty Tuesday. Denise Encinias has bonded out while her husband remains jailed on a $20,000 bond.
The Las Vegas Optic reports that Jose Encinias also is facing a misdemeanor count of installing a gas heater without a license and not having the installation inspected or certified.
Authorities say 56-year-old Cochise Bayhan and 61-year-old Alex Montoya died inside the shed last Oct. 24.
The men were former New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute patients.The public mental hospital is in Las Vegas.