Lake Elsinore father guilty of son's murder

By: JOHN HALL - Staff Writer
September 27, 2007 10:11 PM PDT



Javier Terrones listens Jan. 19 to a Spanish interpreter during his preliminary hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Riverside County. Terrones was convicted Thursday of murder in the death of his 4-year-old son, who was killed last year when the Lake Elsinore man intentionally crashed his Cadillac Escalade on Interstate 15 after arguing with his wife.

FRENCH VALLEY ---- Gripping a Spanish Bible in one hand and holding the hand of her victim advocate with her other, Zorayda Terrones wept quietly Thursday as she learned her husband was found guilty of murdering their 4-year-old son.

Javier Terrones Sr., 31, stood and faced the Riverside County jury, lowering his head for just a moment as he learned his fate. He will likely go to prison for life when he returns before Judge Rodney Walker at Southwest Justice Center on Oct. 26 to be sentenced.

Javier Terrones Jr. died Nov. 2 after being ejected from his father's Cadillac Escalade as the sport utility vehicle flew up an embankment at Interstate 15 and Clinton Keith Road in Wildomar.


The heavy SUV was traveling so fast that it vaulted into the air above the bridge, crashing down on top of a Ford Explorer, injuring the woman behind the wheel. Inside the Cadillac, Terrones' daughter Bianca, then 10, was also hurt.

Terrones was convicted Thursday of the first-degree murder of his son, the attempted murder of his daughter, assault with a deadly weapon for the injuries to the Ford's driver and two counts of child endangerment.

"With all the cases we do, this is one that really touched me because this was such an evil act done against three people, including the defendant's own children," Deputy District Attorney John Henry, who prosecuted Terrones, said by telephone Thursday afternoon. "It doesn't get any more clear cut good (versus) evil than that."

The decision to charge Terrones with murder and attempted murder also was clear-cut, Henry said, because the crash was intentional.

"It's no different than putting a loaded gun to someone's head and pulling the trigger," Henry said. "The person just happens to use a vehicle as the weapon."

Henry told jurors during the trial that Terrones loaded his children into his SUV ---- without putting his son in a car seat ---- with the intent to kill them because he was angry with his wife. The couple had argued the night before and Zorayda Terrones told her husband she couldn't talk about the problem the morning of the crash.

On the other side of the case, defense attorney Dario Bejarano contends the crash was an accident caused by nothing more than his client's neglect.

"He's extremely remorseful and distraught over the loss of his son," Bejarano said of Terrones outside the courtroom Thursday. "This was a tragic event for everyone."

Both Bianca and her mother testified during the trial, which lasted about three days.

The jury's deliberations were significantly shorter, taking just a couple of hours Wednesday and then a few more Thursday before they notified the judge they had come to a verdict just before lunch.

"The testimony from the daughter was very important," the jury forewoman said outside the courtroom.

During their deliberations, the jury requested that all of Bianca's testimony be read back to them.

The little girl was the only one they could hear from regarding what happened before she, her brother and her father left that morning, as well as the actions of her father as he sped on the freeway just before the horrific crash.

"Ultimately, the deciding factor was the behavior of the defendant (the day of the crash)," said the forewoman, a 25-year-old Riverside woman who identified herself only as Pamela.

"As a parent, his child's safety should have been the most important thing," she said. Bianca testified that her father ignored her when she reminded him to get the car seat for Javier Jr. before they left.

Bianca also told jurors that her father ignored her pleas to slow down and to buckle her baby brother into the back seat.

The forewoman said the jurors carefully examined their own notes and evidence they received during the trial, including photographs of the crash scene.

"We wanted to make sure this wasn't an accident," she said.

During the trial, Zorayda Terrones testified that her husband had threatened to drive the family off the Ortega Highway, a winding mountain road near Lake Elsinore, after an argument the couple had earlier in 2006.

The prosecutor argued that such a threat showed Terrones had the intent to kill the children even then.

The forewoman, however, said jurors really didn't consider that earlier threat in their deliberations, adding that they had enough to convict based on his actions the day of the crash.

Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.

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