New Mexico prosecutors delayed the case against five members of a  family accused of causing the death of a toddler, saying they will let federal prosecutors temporarily take the lead.

A state grand jury had been scheduled to begin hearing child abuse and potential terrorism evidence against the group Thursday, but the decision by Taos District Attorney Donald Gallegos means federal prosecutors will proceed first with their weapons and conspiracy case against the group. Delaying the state case will avoid any confusion or potential complications, Gallegos said.

"We will present the cases to a grand jury at a later date, and we will not back down in our efforts to bring justice to the victims in these cases,” he said in a statement.

The five adults being prosecuted are accused of causing the chronically ill toddler's death and keeping 11 other children in squalor in a ramshackle compound near the Colorado-New Mexico border.

Gallegos' decision is the latest twist in a case that has drawn international attention. One of the children told authorities the group’s leader believed the dead child would be reincarnated to launch an attack on banks, schools and other "corrupt" institutions.

The case resulted in an unusually public spat between Gallegos' office and New Mexico state prosecutors over how to proceed. The attorney general argued that his office should take over the child abuse case.

"This case is more complicated because the prosecutors have to use the children as evidence to show they were being turned into terrorists. That's going to be a very complicated issue throughout the court proceeding," New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said. "It puts prosecutors in a very difficult position."

More: New Mexico compound: Woman believed dead boy would be reincarnated as Jesus, FBI says

The group from the remote town of Amalia was charged by a federal grand jury with weapons violations and conspiracy. That trial is set to begin in November. Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, Lucas Morton, Jany Leveille, Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhannah Wahhaj all remain in federal custody, pending that trial.

The group led by Leveille is accused of keeping the children in horrific conditions without access to adequate food, water or sanitation while they lived in a smelly, hand-built compound surrounded by old tires and trash. The children, ranging in age from 1 to 15, were placed into the custody of the New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department after a raid Aug. 4. The children's identities have been kept confidential because they are minors.

Police said the group members were preparing an attack by teaching the older kids how to shoot and reload at a homemade firing range. Defense attorneys said the group members were simply exercising their constitutional rights to possess firearms – all the guns found on the property were bought legally.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj faces a separate charge that he kidnapped his chronically ill son from the child's mother and spirited him across the country last year. The boy, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, 3, died in the compound, his body cached in a tunnel, police said. An FBI agent who interviewed one of the older children said Leveille believed the boy would be reincarnated.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj is married to Leveille, who federal authorities said is a Haitian national who lacks permission to live in the USA. Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhannah Wahhaj are Siraj Ibn Wahhaj's sisters, and Morton is married to Subhannah Wahhaj.

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The complicated case highlighted a rift between Gallegos and Balderas over who should handle the prosecution. Balderas said his office should have jurisdiction over cases of child abuse resulting in death. Gallegos took offense to the suggestion his office wasn't up to the challenge, and the two exchanged Facebook posts, letters and interviews criticizing each other.

Gallegos, who didn’t return requests for an interview, accused Balderas of grandstanding: "Your grab at headlines to seek more authority and resources for these cases is nothing short of a political stunt and does no good for the community," he wrote in a letter to the attorney general.

Balderas was unapologetic. He argued that Gallegos' office demonstrated that it could use more help. In a detention hearing Aug. 13, a judge ordered the adults freed from custody because prosecutors failed to demonstrate the group posed a risk. Federal prosecutors immediately secured their own indictment and kept all five jailed.

More: Child neglect charges dismissed, for now, in New Mexico compound raid case

"I'm not afraid to ruffle feathers. We cannot as a community screw up these cases," Balderas said in an interview with USA TODAY. "We have to identify systemic failures along the way, and sometimes that puts agencies into the blame game. I don't make apologies. We're going to push agencies to do a better job."

He said, "Nobody wants a young child being buried in their community and then having the case fall through the cracks."

The federal trial on weapons and conspiracy charges is set to begin Nov. 5. The compound, which the group built on someone else's land, was destroyed.

More: Judge in NM compound case threatened after ordering release of family


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