Warning: The details in this story are disturbing and may be upsetting to some readers.
SILVER CITY – A newly filed lawsuit alleges the New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD) ignored repeated warnings and failed to protect 5-year-old Xaqueline “Xaquie” Bynum before her death in March 2024. The complaint, filed in the First Judicial District Court, also accuses CYFD of violating the New Mexico Constitution and the state’s Tort Claims Act.
Video and investigative records obtained by KOB 4 show the conditions inside the family’s home and the desperate efforts to revive the child. Xaquie died from carbon monoxide poisoning one day after her birthday. Grant County deputies found her unresponsive beneath her parents inside a single-room home so cluttered with trash that the floor was not visible. Her 7-year-old brother, identified in court filings as X.B., was found nearby, unable to walk, and later tested positive for methamphetamine — as did Xaquie. An autopsy confirmed carbon monoxide toxicity from coal burned indoors for heat, something CYFD investigators had already flagged as dangerous three months before her death.
The lawsuit, brought by Rachel Higgins on behalf of Xaquie’s wrongful death estate and Sarah Jaeger as guardian ad litem for X.B., claims CYFD received at least five abuse and neglect referrals involving the family in the eight months before Xaquie’s death. Plaintiffs allege CYFD documented unsafe living conditions, prior drug use, visible injuries to both children, chronic school absences, and lack of food, but failed to take protective custody.
Body camera footage captures the frantic scene as deputies tried Narcan and CPR to revive Xaquie, but rigor mortis had already set in. Deputies described the home’s conditions as overwhelming — trash, rotting food, excrement, and unsafe heating devices inside. First responders also reported that neither child had eaten a full meal in at least two days.
Court records detail CYFD’s alleged pattern of neglecting its duty to protect, including:
- Never inspecting the inside of the home during multiple investigations.
- Accepting parents’ statements at face value despite contradictory reports from schools, law enforcement, and relatives.
- Failing to follow mandatory “three-plus” staffing policies after repeated reports on the same family.
- Allowing unsafe heating methods previously identified as life-threatening.
The complaint also alleges systemic problems within CYFD, including a policy shift toward keeping children with families despite clear safety risks, chronic staffing shortages, and what plaintiffs call the “gross inability” of the Silver City CYFD office to perform basic duties. It cites the mass firing of eight employees in that office months after Xaquie’s death.
In addition to detailing CYFD’s alleged failures leading to Xaquie’s death, the lawsuit accuses the agency of retaliating against X.B.’s grandmother, Colleen Hight, after she cooperated with law enforcement in the criminal case against the children’s parents. The suit claims CYFD abruptly removed X.B. from her care — despite positive reports from his doctor and providers — and placed him with a non-relative foster family, causing further trauma.
Both parents, Music Adame and Matthew Bynum, face felony charges, including intentional abuse of a child resulting in death. They have been released from jail; Adame has an unrelated active warrant. A judge has granted Bynum limited supervised visits with his son, while Adame’s request for visits is pending.
CYFD declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages, attorneys’ fees, and court oversight to hold CYFD accountable. The case argues that if CYFD had acted in accordance with state law, policy, and its own investigative protocols, Xaquie would be alive today and her brother would have been spared significant harm.
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