Thread: El Salvadorian IA guilty in using a pick-ax to kill roommate

Illegal immigrant guilty in killing
The 23-year-old man from El Salvador admitted in court to using a pick-ax to kill his roommate.
By Peter Dujardin | 247-4749
April 2, 2008

NEWPORT NEWS - An illegal immigrant from El Salvador admitted in court Tuesday that he killed his roommate with a pick-ax during a fight at a Newport News motel last June.

Anunciacion Santos Turcios, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the slaying of Cecillio Leon Hernandez, 30, an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

It was unclear what led to the altercation, which occurred at 3 a.m. in Room 318 of Colonial Court Motel, at 10451 Jefferson Ave. near Hemlock Road. According to a statement Turcios gave police, Hernandez had the upper hand in the fight, which took place after a day spent drinking alcohol.

"They were in a fistfight and ... (Turcios) said he could not withstand it any longer," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Kimberly A. Kurkjian said at the hearing in Newport News Circuit Court on Tuesday. So Turcios left the hotel room, got the pick-ax from his trunk and struck Hernandez with it.

Hernandez had 14 penetrating or chopping injuries from the pick-ax to his chest, abdomen, back and other places, Kurkjian said.

Turcios and Hernandez worked together laying cable for a subcontractor to a contractor for Verizon Communications. In his booking papers, Turcios' employer was listed as "Verizon-lays cable." Verizon is replacing its old phone lines in Hampton Roads and nationwide with a fiber-optic system.

During the court hearing, Turcios spoke through an interpreter as Judge Timothy S. Fisher went through a routine series of questions before accepting Turcios' guilty plea — which came as part of an agreement with the Commonwealth's Attorney's office in which the charge was reduced from first- to second-degree murder.

Though second-degree murder carries a maximum term of 40 years in prison, Turcios' attorney, Newport News Deputy Public Defender Gregory R. Wright Sr., said Turcios would likely qualify for "far less" than that under state sentencing guidelines that take into account the defendant's age, past record and other factors.

Wright said after the hearing that the defense investigation revealed Hernandez likely had a knife during the fight. But Kurkjian said there was no evidence Hernandez was armed. Wright did not bring up the discrepancy when Fisher asked if the defense had any "corrections" to Kurkjian's evidence.

Turcios was originally charged with first-degree murder — with the "willful and deliberate" requirement for that charge indicated by his going to his car to get the pick-ax.

The decision to reduce the charge was made for a variety of reasons, including the fact that several would-be witnesses at the trial were illegal immigrants, Kurkjian said.

"They were not necessarily going to be easy to procure for the prosecution," she said.

Rather than taking a chance with a trial on a first-degree murder charge, she said, the state agreed to take the sure conviction on "the very serious charge" of second-degree murder.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local ... 8054.story

Though second-degree murder carries a maximum term of 40 years in prison, Turcios' attorney, Newport News Deputy Public Defender Gregory R. Wright Sr., said Turcios would likely qualify for "far less" than that under state sentencing guidelines that take into account the defendant's age, past record and other factors.

10 years will probably be enough considering his stellar record and he has a family he's supporting back home. Heck, why not just give him a suspended sentence.