The man who killed Rosa Valdez’s son apologized and asked for forgiveness just before he was sentenced to six years in state prison Tuesday.
“I wish to apologize to the family because of what happened,” Juan Jose Coronado-Avila said in Denver District Court. “I have been praying for this family that God helps them and that God helps me too.”
But the words that came from Coronado-Avila’s mouth did nothing to take away the anger Valdez has over the manslaughter plea deal he made with Denver prosecutors.
“We are not just victims of the perpetrator but also of the judicial system in this country,” Valdez told the court. “I trusted the system, but justice is blind and acts on its own convenience.”
Valdez wanted Coronado-Avila to go to prison for life for killing her son Jorge Omar Valdez on March 24 in a drive-by shooting at West Ninth Avenue and Winona Court in Denver.
“You are a dark soul, and you have a completely black karma,” Valdez told Coronado-Avila during the sentencing hearing. “For all of life, you should pay for this.”
Prosecutors initially charged Coronado-Avila with first-degree murder but later agreed to the lesser charge because they did not believe they could prove a first-degree murder count beyond a reasonable doubt.
Coronado-Avila told investigators he killed Valdez in self-defense and had been in fear for his life and the lives of his family.
Cellphone records show Valdez called Coronado-Avila repeatedly, but there were no voice mails or text messages of the exchanges to verify whether threats were made.
Rosa Valdez says her son, who was unarmed at the time of the shooting, did nothing to provoke Coronado-Avila and was not involved in dealing drugs.
