Thread: UT Boyfriend denies being jealous of slain child

Boyfriend denies being jealous of slain child
By Linda Thomson

Deseret News

Published: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:36 a.m. MDT
The boyfriend of a young woman charged with killing her 2-year-old son denied on Tuesday of being jealous of the youngster who died from a broken back.

Sergio Martinez-Gonzalez took the stand and at first was talkative to the point of being loquacious, but later began giving increasingly shorter answers and saying that he did not recall events and conversations.

Adrianna Lucero, who was 17 when her son Alejandro was killed, is charged with the boy's slaying. She is on trial charged with first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony child abuse in the incident that occurred Aug. 24, 2008.

Martinez-Gonzalez, 28, said he had never been alone with the boy who was not his son, never fed or bathed him and "had no problem with him."

"I tried to keep my distance from him," he said.

Questioned about that by prosecutor Cristina Ortega, Martinez-Gonzalez referred to an earlier situation where he said he saw Lucero push the child very hard. Martinez-Gonzalez said when he questioned his girlfriend about why she did that, she replied that the boy was her son, so why would Martinez-Gonzalez care what happened.

The couple also had twin sons together who were five months old when Alejandro died. In addition, Martinez-Gonzales is married to a woman in Mexico and has two children with her.

He said Lucero would get "very upset" when he called the children in Mexico. When he mentioned bringing them to this country, he said, Lucero threatened to kill his wife and those two children. He said Lucero also repeatedly threatened to get him deported to Mexico.

Martinez-Gonzales testified that on the day Alejandro died, Martinez-Gonzalez played soccer, then brought Lucero, Alejandro and one of the twins (the other was in the hospital with an undisclosed health problem) to his Kearns home. The children awoke from naps, Martinez-Gonzalez put on a horror movie, and Lucero took the toddler to get some Jell-O from a refrigerator in another room.

When she came back with the child in her arms, Martinez-Gonzalez said, he could see something bad had happened. He testified that he tried first aid and wanted to take the child to a hospital, while Lucero wanted to call her mother. She did call 911 and the child was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Under questioning from defense attorney Stephen McCaughey, Martinez-Gonzalez denied requesting a paternity test for the twins and said he did not remember getting a letter from the state ordering him to pay child support. The couple had an arrangement where he would buy what Lucero needed when he saw her, which was about twice a week, he said.

Martinez-Gonzalez denied he assaulted Lucero, but said he pleaded no contest to a charge of domestic violence assault against her during an argument that he said Lucero started.

"Basically, Alejandro was a constant reminder that Adrianna (Lucero) had sex with somebody else before you?" McCaughey asked.

"It didn't matter to me," Martinez-Gonzalez said. "It was a pretty normal thing. I knew she had a kid."

The trial is scheduled to run through Friday.

E-MAIL: lindat@desnews.com

© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/prin ... child.html

I hope the last sentence of this story is untrue. This man is a statutory rapist. She was 15-16 years old when she got pregnant.

Teen mom found guilty of killing toddler son
Trial » She had tried to implicate boyfriend, but jury decided she was the killer.
By Pamela Manson

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 04/17/2009 07:38:34 PM MDT

LUCERO VERDICT Adrianna Lucero's defense attorney Stephen Mc Caughey... (Scott Sommerdorf)«12345»

There was no dispute that toddler Alejandro Lucero died on Aug. 24 from a broken spine, according to prosecutors. The only question, they told a 3rd District Court jury, was who inflicted the fatal injury.

After a weeklong trial and 3½ hours of deliberations, the jurors decided the boy's teenage mother committed the crime, convicting Adrianna Lucero of murder and child abuse.

The mother and several supporters cried after the verdict by the panel of six women and two men was announced. Defense attorney Stephen McCaughey said he was surprised by the verdict.

Lucero faces up to life in prison; a sentencing date before Judge Vernice Trease has not been set.

Taking the stand in her own defense, Lucero denied ever hurting the boy and said her then-boyfriend -- Sergio Martinez-Gonzalez, who is the father of her 5-month-old twins but was not Alejandro's father -- must have killed the toddler.

Martinez-Gonzalez, now 27, testified for the prosecution and claimed Lucero was alone with Alejandro immediately before he was injured.

Lucero, who was 17 when her son died, was tried as an adult. The child-abuse charge stems from a bruise on his back that the boy, who was about to turn 2, allegedly suffered a week before.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Cristina Ortega contended Lucero has a quick temper and lost control under the pressure of caring for three children under age 3.

She said the young mother literally snapped Alejandro's spine in half, then lied to implicate Martinez-Gonzalez. However, the boyfriend had no motive or opportunity to hurt the little boy, Ortega said.

"Sergio was never alone with Alejandro," she said.

McCaughey argued that Martinez-Gonzalez is the real killer and pointed out that the boyfriend pleaded no contest last year to domestic violence assault in an incident involving Lucero.

He also said Salt Lake County sheriff's detectives decided right away that Lucero was the killer and didn't want the truth. He urged the jury to again watch a video of an interrogation of Lucero by detectives that lasted two hours and 40 minutes.

"If she was guilty, she would have broken under that pressure," he said.

Ortega also suggested that jurors take a second look at the interview and note inconsistent statements by Lucero.

Both Lucero and Martinez-Gonzalez say they were watching a movie in his rented room in Kearns on the day Alejandro died when one of them -- Lucero says it was her boyfriend and he claims it was her -- took the toddler to another room to get Jell-O. Within a minute, the two say, the injury occurred.

Lucero initially told police the boy had a seizure while she was with him but changed her statement after she learned Alejandro's back had been broken. The mother said she lied at first because she thought her son had died of a seizure and she wanted to protect Martinez-Gonzalez, who is in the United States illegally, from being deported.

Martinez-Gonzalez was initially charged with second-degree felony obstructing justice, but the charge was dropped. According to a transcript of a Sheriff's Office interview, investigators told Martinez-Gonzalez if he "worked with them," immigration authorities would "work with him."

pmanson@sltrib.com

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_12165811