Judge names mother sole managing conservator, bars father from contact in Aurelio Medellin case
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Summary
At a final hearing in a child-protection case, the court named Luz Medellin sole managing conservator of her son Aurelio, limited the father to possessory status with no contact, ordered child and medical support, and dismissed the department from the case.
A judge in the High Plains Child Protection Court issued a final order in the case of Aurelio Medellin, naming the child’s mother, Luz Medellin, as sole managing conservator and naming Lorenzo Hernandez as a possessory conservator with no contact between the father and the child.
The court found the outcome was in the child’s best interest and cited the father’s failure to engage with the family plan of service, an admitted positive drug screen and an ongoing criminal history. The presiding judge said, “I do find it is in the best interest of the child, Aurelio Medellin, to name the mother, Luz Medellin, as the sole managing conservator of the child. I'll name Lorenzo Hernandez as a possessory conservator of the child, and I will find that it is in the best interest of the child to not render any specific possession order and to further, enter a no contact order between the father and the child.”
Witness testimony and exhibits introduced at the hearing showed Aurelio has been living with his mother in Borger since a monitored return on Dec. 30, 2024, and that Saint Francis caseworkers described the child and mother as doing “amazing.” DFPS specialist Abigail Lawrence testified that the father had minimal participation in required services: he completed one random drug screen, did not complete counseling, parenting classes, or regular visits, and that contact since his October release from incarceration had ceased. The court took judicial notice that Lorenzo Hernandez had been adjudicated as the child’s father on 06/25/2024.
The court ordered child support be calculated based on minimum wage for one child and directed $50 per month in medical support to begin May 1, 2025. The judge also ordered the Department of Family and Protective Services and all court-appointed attorneys dismissed from the case and said she would sign and circulate the written order.
The child’s attorney of record, Stacy Zavala, and DFPS counsel announced readiness earlier in the hearing. Abigail Lawrence and a second Saint Francis pharmacy specialist, Jordan Alford, testified about casework and monitoring. Counsel for the father acknowledged he had not had recent contact with Hernandez and that Hernandez had been incarcerated during parts of the case.
The order leaves in place that the father may later seek modification; the judge observed he “is obviously always entitled to come back and ask to modify that.”
