Investigators say a stroller, shoe prints and medical findings shaped early charges.
FLORA VISTA, N.M. — A 43-year-old San Juan County father accused of killing his 11-month-old son is jailed on felony charges after investigators said they found the baby’s body partially buried near a rural ditch days after the child was last seen alive.
John Hannon faces a first-degree felony count of child abuse resulting in death and a second-degree felony count of tampering with evidence. Court records and law enforcement accounts describe a search that began late Feb. 8, 2026, and ended the next morning, along with medical observations that investigators say pointed to violent injury. The case has drawn scrutiny because it involves a baby, and because the sheriff has said the suspect’s prior run-ins with the justice system raised alarms.
Investigators said the child, John Teigue Hannon, was reported missing at 9:38 p.m. Feb. 8 from a home on County Road 3450 in Flora Vista, a community between Aztec and Farmington. The child’s mother, Krystal Phillips, told deputies she feared something had happened after the baby’s father took the child for a walk the day before and later claimed he had left the boy with a grandparent who lives in Colorado, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit described in court reporting. Phillips asked Hannon to call his mother to confirm where the baby was, but he refused, the affidavit said.
As deputies worked to pin down a timeline, they learned of a report connected to New Mexico 516. Investigators said Hannon had walked through a property while pushing a stroller on Feb. 7. A homeowner reported the activity and told deputies Hannon did not have permission to be there, according to a sheriff’s office timeline cited by local media. Deputies later found a stroller in a ditch, and search efforts focused on the same general area. Authorities have not said publicly when the baby died or exactly how long the child may have been outside before the body was found.
Deputies searched through the night and into the morning of Feb. 9. The sheriff’s office said the child was found dead shortly before 10 a.m. in a remote area near Flora Vista. Court reporting based on the affidavit says the baby’s head and left arm were buried in dirt while the torso and legs were visible, and that investigators found shoe prints they linked to Hannon at the scene. A doctor who examined the body told detectives the infant had a skull fracture and an abrasion on the forehead, according to the affidavit description.
The affidavit description also includes a detail that investigators have emphasized as they built probable cause. The child likely was alive when his face was buried in the dirt, the doctor’s assessment indicated, according to court reporting. Authorities have not released an autopsy report, and they have not publicly detailed the full cause and manner of death beyond describing the case as a homicide investigation. The sheriff’s office has said it will not release the victim’s name publicly out of respect for the family, though the name appears in some court reporting.
Investigators said Hannon was arrested Feb. 9 on unrelated drug charges and later served with the child-abuse and evidence-tampering counts while he was at the San Juan County Adult Detention Center. In the affidavit description reported by local outlets, Hannon admitted to burying the child and told investigators, “I knew he was dead.” He also told investigators he “made a mistake” and said, “At one point in time I did love my kids,” before adding that he had “changed,” according to the same court reporting.
Sheriff Shane Ferrari has publicly framed the case in blunt terms. “There is no greater evil than individuals who hurt and kill children,” Ferrari said in a prepared statement as the charges were announced. He also thanked deputies and detectives for long hours and said many people will not understand the toll the case takes on investigators. The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department has said it has a history of involvement with the family and is looking into the case, according to statements described in local reporting.
In addition to the homicide-related charges, court reporting says Hannon also faces allegations tied to a Jan. 31 crash in Farmington, including a misdemeanor DWI accusation and fourth-degree felony counts involving controlled-substance possession and evidence tampering. The affidavit description in that case alleges he tried to plant meth in another vehicle after a collision. Those allegations are separate from the infant-death case, and prosecutors will have to prove each count in court.
The criminal case is in its earliest stage. Prosecutors are expected to seek to keep Hannon in custody while the case moves forward, and investigators have indicated the inquiry remains active as they gather records, interviews and forensic results. The sheriff’s office has said there is no threat to the public. The next major milestone will be upcoming court hearings that will set deadlines and determine whether Hannon remains detained as the case proceeds.
Author note: Last updated February 13, 2026.