Nadine Montoya will spend the rest of her life in prison for running over Lilian Verdonkschot in the parking lot of a downtown Burger King last year.
A Denver jury found Montoya guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and first-degree assault. Jurors deliberated less than a day before returning the verdict.
Montoya, 27, will be sentenced on Oct. 21 by Judge Robert L. McGahey.
The murder occurred May 29, 2009, in the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant at 600 Broadway when Montoya hit 49-year-old Verdonkschot with the car, which made her fall to the ground. Montoya then revved the engine, backed up and ran over Verdonkschot, killing her.
The incident started over a cigarette.
Verdonkschot’s daughter, Shala Parker, was in front of Montoya in the drive-through when Montoya’s friend Damian Saiz walked up to their car and asked for cigarette. Parker told Saiz they didn’t have any left and when Saiz returned and asked again, she rolled up the car window, briefly trapping his hands.
After that, words were exchanged and a fistfight broke out between the two groups. When Montoya and her friends decided to leave, she ran over Verdonkschot in the parking lot and drove off. Felisa Cardona, The Denver Post
