'Avenging angel' gives killers life with no chance at parole
meredith Lopez
To print this page, select File then Print from your browser
URL:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5383141,00.html
Mario Rios, 28, was convicted of first-degree murder.
'Avenging angel' gives killers life with no chance at parole
By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
February 28, 2007
The family of Angel Delgado left the Jefferson County courthouse Tuesday
with the empty satisfaction that comes from seeing her killers sentenced to
prison for the rest of their lives while knowing that no punishment can ever
bring her back.
Mario Rios and Vincent Ortiz each were sentenced to life in prison without
parole plus 80 years for the first- degree murder of Delgado, 25, and the
attempted murder of her boyfriend, Victor Martinez.
"The court was our avenging angel," said Glenda Gomez, Delgado's mother. "I
just hope now that my son and I and Victor can return to some kind of normal
life. But it will never be normal because we don't have Angel with us."
Roger Delgado, Angel's brother, said he is consumed with guilt because he
was friends with the two and Kenji Jones, a third defendant who faces trial
in July.
"I'll never be the same," he said. "I've got so much anger in me."
Martinez, who survived the gruesome execution-style shooting with a mangled
ear, said life prison sentences for the killers "could never make up for
what we lost."
"I want them to spend every single day remembering her face, remembering her
voice, remembering her cries that night," he said.
Delgado was asleep and Martinez was working at his computer Nov. 29, 2005,
when three men burst into their apartment to rob them of drugs, jewelry and
cash.
They bound the two and forced them to the floor. After torturing them with a
knife and taunting Delgado as she prayed for her life, Ortiz, 27, and Rios,
28, placed pillows over their heads and shot them. Delgado was killed and
Martinez left for dead.
"The devastation that this has brought to our family is incredible," said
Willy Delgado, Angel's uncle. "I know it wasn't worth it for them. They've
lost all their freedom now. I hope they think about what they did for the
rest of their lives."
Gomez said her daughter was the "family magnet" who kept the family together
and at peace. "I will never run my fingers through her hair again. No
college graduation. No marriage, No grandchild. No more Angel," she said,
wiping her tears during the sentencing hearing.
Turning to Rios and Ortiz, Gomez said, "You had no right to take her life,
to take my life."
Martinez said he is consumed with grief for the woman he planned to spend
the rest of his life with.
"I'm not half the man that I once was," he told the judge. "Not only was
Angel my better half. She was all of me."
Ortiz and Rios maintain their innocence, are appealing their convictions and
did not speak at the hearing.
Jefferson County District Judge Brooke Jackson said the case once again
demonstrates the destructive combination of guns and drugs.
"These crimes were as heinous as the court can see. Nothing is more
revolting than an execution-style murder and attempted murder as we had in
this case. It boggles my mind that these things can happen."
Although some family members and friends wanted a death sentence for the
killers, Jackson said a life sentence is worse in some ways.
"What is more precious to us, really, than our freedom?' " he said. "These
two men will never have it again."
lind...@rockymountainnews.com or 303-954-5181
Copyright 2007, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
_________________________________________________________________
Don’t miss your chance to WIN 10 hours of private jet travel from Microsoft®
Office Live http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/mcrssaub0540002499mrt/direct/01/