"He always registered with us and gave us the proper address. I know the law isn't perfect, but this guy should have never been free to hurt anyone else in the first place."Darren White, Bernalillo County sheriff

By Iliana Limon
Tribune Reporter

The criminal justice system utterly failed a 16-year-old murder victim, her family and the community at large, the sheriff of Bernalillo County says.

Darren White was reflecting on the reasons why Dominic Akers, accused of killing Marissa Mathy-Zvaifler late last week in the Sunshine Theatre, was not locked up for a previous sex crime. The girl was reported missing Wednesday, and a body was found Saturday morning in the theater.

Akers, 22, was found guilty of raping a 4-year-old child last year but was sentenced to time served and probation.

"I had the opportunity to read the case file, and I know the judge was listening to experts who said this person had a better chance of being rehabilitated while on probation," White said.

"I know the family members pleaded for leniency, but the details of this case were so gruesome. The act was so heinous that he had no business walking the streets."

White said his deputies had a hunch, a bad feeling Akers might go astray during his probation.

"One of our detectives was really worried because he had been convicted of such a brutal crime, and we knew he was involved in some sort of gang activity," White said. "It all added to some pretty bad feelings about him, but there wasn't much we could do. Our hands were tied."

White's deputies observed the sex offender laws, checking in on Akers monthly to make sure he was registered at the correct address.

"We have more than 600 sex offenders, and there's no way we can watch all of them 24 hours a day," White said. "He always registered with us and gave us the proper address. I know the law isn't perfect, but this guy should have never been free to hurt anyone else in the first place."

The Sheriff's Department last checked on Akers on Saturday, the day the girl's body was found. Deputies visited Second Chance, a Downtown halfway house where Akers lived with 16 other sex offenders.

White, who was once an Albuquerque police detective in the Crimes Against Children Unit, has seen plenty of violent assaults during his 17 years of law enforcement.

But the destruction Akers is accused of leaving behind - the rape of a 4-year-old child and murder of a 16-year-old girl - has kept the sheriff and father of a teenage boy from sleeping well at night.

"This is a real black eye for the criminal justice system," the normally smooth-talking sheriff said, stumbling and searching for the right words to articulate his anger and grief. "This week, we failed everyone in this community. It is our worst nightmare."

Akers was a quiet janitor who mostly kept to himself, co-workers said. He was an average employee, a bulky 22-year-old who blended in easily despite his 6-foot, 380-pound frame.

Vincent Johnson, property manager of the Sunshine Theatre, was shocked to learn Akers had been charged with murdering a 16-year-old Santa Fe girl who attended a concert last week inside the popular Downtown venue.

"I was absolutely horrified," Johnson said Monday afternoon. "We don't take security lightly. No one would ever imagine your janitor would do something like this. We all feel so violated."

Johnson tried to comfort employees, talking with them about Akers, who was accused of killing the girl during a hip-hop concert Wednesday night.

Akers told homicide detectives Mathy-Zvaifler kept asking him for a chance to meet the band Atmosphere, according to a Metro Court criminal complaint. He said they had a sexual encounter in the projection area on the third floor, but Mathy-Zvaifler abruptly stopped him, the complaint states.

Akers told detectives he flipped out and choked her, but she woke up and began screaming, the complaint states.

Akers said he decided to strangle the teen, killing her, because he did not want to go back to jail, the complaint states.

Akers left the teen in the projection area, then moved her body Thursday morning while he was supposed to be cleaning the theater for an evening show, the complaint states.

He hid the girl in a storage space on the second floor a few feet away from the women's restrooms, screening the area with soda and snack machines, the complaint states.

"I wish I could have been there," Johnson said, sighing heavily. "I wish one of us could have done something to save Marissa and her poor family from so much pain and suffering."

Johnson was frustrated that he didn't know about Akers' violent past, the warning signs that he might again hurt others.

Akers spent 437 days in the City-County Jail, eventually pleading guilty to child rape and molestation charges in 2002, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 4-year-old relative, but was sentenced to 33 years in prison by state District Judge Ross Sanchez, who suspended the sentence and ordered Akers to serve five years probation.

When Akers was hired as a janitor at the Sunshine Theatre on Jan. 28, he completed a basic application that included his name, age and social security number.

He never mentioned that he was a convicted felon, a sex offender or on probation.

Johnson regrets he never asked those questions.

"I guess I never figured I would have to do some kind of a background check on someone who was picking up trash and cleaning up for shows," the property manager said. "Now I know better."

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