Thread: Mexican national sent to prison for murdering mother of 2

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4157120


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Article Last Updated: 8/09/2006 01:00 PM


Mexican national sent to prison for murdering mother of 2

By Elizabeth Neff
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

Posted: 1:08:54 PM- After hearing a tearful description of how Lindsey Rae Fawson's 4- and 6-year-old sons are struggling to deal with her death, a judge on Wednesday sent the killer to prison for seven years to life.
Third District Judge Robin Reese gave Juan Carlos "Blue" Diaz-Arevalo the maximum penalty available under the terms of a plea agreement for the May 16, 2005, slaying.
Diaz-Arevalo pleaded guilty to first-degree-felony murder; possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; and domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony. Reese ordered him to serve terms for each of the counts consecutively.
Tessie Seneca, Fawson's mother, said she was pleased with the sentence. She had asked Reese to consider a pattern of violence and criminal activity exhibited by Diaz-Arevalo, and the brutal, premeditated nature of the shooting.
Fawson, 22, had dated Diaz-Arevalo for a brief time and was trying to get away from him as he had been violent with her, police said.
Her sister, Stacy, and then 3-year-old son had gone wither her to Diaz-Arevalo's Murray residence to get some of her things on the day of the shooting.
Diaz-Arevalo hid in the trunk of the car when they drove away, confronting Fawson when she arrived home about who owned the car.
When he tried to get into the car, police said, Fawson and her sister fought back.
Diaz-Arevalo then shot Fawson in the face as her son looked on from the back seat.
Both Seneca and Fawson's father, Brent Fawson, said Wednesday the death penalty - though not an option for the crime charged - would have been appropriate for the crime. Seneca told the judge of her struggles to raise the boys along with her husband, Robert.
"They thought of him [Diaz-Arevalo] as a friend, and they ask me questions about why would he do that," she said. "They are so little, and so angry...They are in counseling. They just can't understand this."
At the onset of Wednesday's hearing, Diaz-Arevalo asked Reese to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea. He claimed another attorney and told him he hadn't gotten the best deal possible, and said he also wanted to make clear the shooting had been an accident.
The judge refused, saying he believed Diaz-Arevalo's attorneys represented him adequately and that he could not void a plea based on second-guesses.
Two other state cases against Diaz-Arevalo involving drug distribution and damaging a jail were dismissed as part of the plea deal. Federal prosecutors also agreed not to file charges against him for illegal re-entry to the U.S. and a weapons violation.
Diaz-Arevalo, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is a gang member and drug dealer who returned to the United States after he was deported on gun charges, prosecutors said.
In court, Diaz-Arevalo made a brief apology to Fawson's family. But he also directed accusations related to Fawson's alleged drug use at them, saying he had only been trying to help Fawson and that he loved her.
His mother, speaking through a translator, also testified Wednesday. She said her son had only been good to her. She, too, directed drug-related accusations unrelated to the murder at the Fawson family.
The mother also said she felt her son had bad attorneys and that their race was a factor.
Fawson's sister discounted the arguments and recounted the horrors of the shooting.
"He's trying to make this about him, when it's about my sister," she said. "She was a wonderful woman who left two beautiful boys behind who are still grieving over her. We all miss her so much."
eneff@sltrib.com

The mother also said she felt her son had bad attorneys and that their race was a factor.

Guess it didn't work. I think the plea deal stinks!!!!

a judge on Wednesday sent the killer to prison for seven years to life.

Being in the country illegally, murder, weapon charges, drug charges, and domestic violence. He will probably be out in 2 years on good behavior.

7 years to life? give me a break here. I would be waiting on him when he steps out of prison probably in about 2 to 3 yrs!