Originally posted by burdman30ott6
reply to post by d11_m_na_c05

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Has anyone found out how old the girl is, yet? I searched for her name in other news stories and got nothing.

Seventeen-year-old Heather Trujillo was given an 18-year suspended sentence in the death of 7-year-old Zoe Garcia. However, she must spend six years in the youth offender program. If she does not violate the terms of her plea deal, she will not have to spend any time in prison.

Trujillo will be sent to a facility in Pueblo, where she will stay until her six-year sentence is complete. Trujillo did not speak at Wednesday's hearing, but spent most of the time crying. Trujillo and her boyfriend, 17-year-old Lamar Roberts, told police they were acting out the video game "Mortal Kombat," when they kicked, karate chopped and body slammed the little girl in December 2007. Garcia later died of her injuries. Both Trujillo and Roberts were charged with child abuse resulting in a death. Heather Trujillo pleaded guilty in the death of Garcia in May and agreed to testify against Roberts. Trujillo's mother asked the judge to be lenient. "I already lost one daughter," said Dana Trujillo. "She made a huge mistake and she paid a huge price. My family hasn't had a chance to grieve for Zoe because of all this. We haven't been together, haven't got any time to express how this has affected us." In court on Wednesday, the prosecutor asked for the maximum sentence because of the brutality of the crime and because Trujillo could have stopped it. "This case is about one thing: two of the people that Zoe Garcia trusted, that Zoe Garcia's mom trusted, to take care of her took advantage of that trust," said Robb Miller, the chief deputy district attorney. Trujillo's own attorney asked for a lighter sentence of 12 years. "I've spent a lot of time with Heather," said Trujillo's attorney, Jerry Manzer. "She didn't want this for Zoe." "I know it's hard for someone to understand how much Heather loves her sister, but she does, and she grieves too," said Manzer. Roberts is scheduled in court for a preliminary hearing on July 10.

www.rockymountainnews.com...

They began wrestling and enacting a game of Mortal Kombat, court affidavits say. Zoe lost consciousness after being hit, kicked and body-slammed to the floor.

The documents say Trujillo told police she was on top of her sister "holding her arms down with her legs while tapping on her chest like a typewriter when the victim passed out." Roberts was not wrestling but was acting "as the referee," the affidavits say.

Trujillo said she sent Zoe to bed after she regained consciousness. When she checked on her about 15 minutes later, she was not breathing. Trujillo and Roberts tried to revive the girl in the shower and attempted CPR before calling the mother and then 911.

In an interview later at police headquarters, Trujillo said she tripped Zoe, "punched her in the stomach, karate chopped her lower arms, punched and pinched the victim's thighs, kicked her in the shins, slapped her stomach and buttocks and poked at the victim's chest."

A witness quoted in an affidavit said Roberts told her he had kicked the girl and that his hands were "lethal weapons."

The witness said Roberts performed a back kick and the girl didn't get up. He said he and Trujillo "cracked an egg in her mouth . . . in an attempt to see if she was messing around with them" by faking unconsciousness.

The witness said she asked Roberts whether Zoe had asked them to stop. "Yeah, she told me to stop," he said. Asked why he didn't stop, he said, "I don't know; I was drunk."

Zoe was not breathing when police arrived. She died at North Colorado Medical Center.