Over the objections of the victim’s mother, the Denver district attorney’s office has offered a manslaughter deal to a man who was charged with the first-degree murder of her son.
Rosa Valdez, the mother of Jorge Omar Valdez, says she’ll be in court this morning to watch as Juan Jose Coronado-Avila changes his plea.
“Why did they cut a deal with a killer?” Valdez said through tears Wednesday.
A victim’s advocate from the district attorney’s office informed Valdez of the decision.
“I felt like I wanted to throw up,” Valdez said. “I am only a mother fighting for justice. That is all that I want.”
Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney, said she could not discuss details because the case is ongoing, but she said it was not strong enough to take to trial.
“As the case progressed through the criminal justice process, it became more and more clear to the trial team that there was not a belief that we could prove a first-degree murder charge to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said. “We have an ethical obligation not to go forward with that if we know that. We know that is tough, and we know that is not what family and friends wanted to hear.”
Under Colorado law, the difference between degrees of homicide is sometimes measured by judges and juries with just a few words. Proving manslaughter means proving the defendant was “reckless.” For second-degree murder, killers must “knowingly” act with the belief that they could kill. For first-degree murder, the killer must have acted “after deliberation” and with “intent” or with “extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
Valdez is no lawyer, but she believes Coronado-Avila acted with “extreme indifference” the night he killed her 29-year-old son.
Valdez’s son, a father of two children, was shot March 24 at West Ninth Avenue and Winona Court in Denver.
Valdez says her brother, who lives in California, asked her son to help a man named Arnulfo Higuera-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant who was being detained in Denver on suspicion of drug dealing.
Her son agreed to help Higuera-Ruiz when he got out of jail because he believed Higuera-Ruiz was in the country on a tourism visa to buy used cars for his auto dealership in Mexico.
The day of the shooting, Valdez says her son agreed to give Higuera-Ruiz a ride to West Ninth Avenue and Winona Court.
A police account says that Valdez and Higuera-Ruiz were standing on the street when a man in a white pickup drove up beside Valdez and opened fire.
The bullet struck Valdez in the shoulder, found his heart and killed him.
Higuera-Ruiz was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the shooting. In the beginning, prosecutors asked federal authorities to keep him in custody because he was a material witness to the Valdez homicide.
But a few months ago, prosecutors decided that Higuera-Ruiz was no longer needed, and he was deported to Mexico.
Valdez says her son was not armed and did not deal drugs. He did have a criminal record, including a 2003 forgery conviction. In 2001, Valdez was arrested for flourishing a weapon in Denver, but the case was dismissed.
Valdez believes that even if her son did do something wrong, he did not deserve to pay with his life.
“If a jury says, ‘Your son is as guilty as this guy,’ then fine,” she said. “I just wanted it to go to trial. Let the people of Colorado decide what is right and what is wrong.”
Valdez scoured the neighborhood where her son was shot and went door to door asking for information about what happened because police detectives told her that nobody wanted to cooperate.
A few people tried to help her but said they would not talk to the police.
Without information about why the homicide case isn’t strong enough to take to trial, Valdez can only assume that prosecutors have made a deal with Coronado-Avila for information on other crimes or that her son is not politically important enough.
Valdez is an American citizen, and so was her son. Her only surviving son, Jaime, is about to start a second tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Iraq, and the fear of losing him, as well, has taken its toll.
In the months since her son was killed, Valdez has racked up almost $5,000 in medical bills to treat a heart condition that doctors attributed to stress.
Coronado-Avila faces two to six years in prison if convicted of the manslaughter charge; he would then be deported to Mexico. But Valdez said that is not enough punishment — and that she fears for her life if he gets out.
“He is just going to cross back across the border under another name,” she said. “To me, that is nothing that is going to bring me peace.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
