A father who was ambushed by three robbers while selling marijuana out of his family’s apartment was found not guilty Monday of reckless child abuse resulting in the death of his 10-year-old daughter.
Auralia Cisneros was shot in the face after three men tried to break down the front door of her family’s west Denver apartment Nov. 26, 2007.
Her father, Leo Cisneros, fired several shots at the door, and the three robbers fired once into the front door jamb and several times through the living room window.
Cisneros, 31, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and having a gun while dealing drugs.
Cisneros’ family was elated that he was acquitted of the child-abuse charge, which could have resulted in more than 50 years in prison.
“If he was the worst father, don’t you think they would have found him guilty?” said Cisneros’ cousin, Jonathan Davis, after the verdicts came in.
Cisneros faces between eight and 48 years in prison for the marijuana and gun convictions. He will be sentenced Nov. 5 by District Judge William Robbins.
The robbers — Trivi Trujillo, Joshua Rojas and Juvencio Hernandez — all have pleaded guilty in the case and are serving or are expected to serve between 16 and 24 years in prison.
Davis says he thinks Trujillo shot Auralia through a window of the family’s apartment and doesn’t think anybody has properly paid for her death. He said his cousin was merely a “petty weed dealer” who was robbed by people he didn’t know.
“These guys could do 10 years and be right back out on the street,” he said. “That’s not justice.”
The jury did not have to determine whose bullet killed the girl. Jurors also did not have to decide whether Cisneros was allowed to shoot at the robbers because under Colorado’s “Make My Day” law, he had a right to defend his home.
Prosecutor George Poland told the jury that Cisneros sold a pound of mari juana from the family apartment every 10 days and allowed people to knock on the front door and walk inside to get their drugs.
He said Cisneros placed his child in a dangerous environment that led to her death and that he should have foreseen that a home-invasion robbery could occur.
When questioned by police, Auralia’s mother admitted that Cisneros occasionally allowed Auralia to hand over the marijuana to customers.
Prosecutors said they think the fatal shot came from Cisneros’ gun, a point contested by the defense, who criticized Denver police for not investigating the path of the robbers’ bullets.
Poland also told the jury that Auralia was holding a baggie of pot in her pocket at the time of her death.
But Auralia’s mother, along with a neighbor and one of the first Denver officers at the scene, testified they saw Auralia’s hands across her chest at the time of her death.
“This whole time, they were trying to say that there was marijuana in her hand and it was his bullet that killed her,” Davis said. “The jury saw the truth.”
Defense attorney Laura Menninger said the case was unique because she didn’t know of another incident where the victim of a robbery became the focus of prosecution.
“The jurors paid very careful attention and did their job,” she said. “There was a lot of pretrial publicity to overcome and things that turned out not to be true.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
