'Butchered and discarded': Family of Nicole Montalvo delivers victim impact statements

[Daily Mexican]

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OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. —
Three family members of Nicole Montalvo delivered victim impact
statements Wednesday at the sentencing of the men accused of
killing and dismembering her.

Christopher Otero-Rivera and Angel Rivera were sentenced to life
in prison for second-degree murder.

Christina Montalvo took the stand first. She described the
grieving process for her only sister as "never-ending."

"It physically pains me to say, 'my sister was murdered by her
estranged husband and father,' I still have a hard time saying
it," she said. "It's hard to find the right words to express to
you what the past year and a half has felt like. It's an intense
and deep pain that comes and goes... even to this day. Sometimes
it feels like the grieving process is never ending, especially
when it's an unexpected and traumatizing loss of your only
sister. When people ask me what happened to Nicole, I've always
said she passed away from an act of domestic violence."

Christina Montalvo said the death of her sister brought on
depression, anxiety and an inability to carry on with her day-to-
day. She stated that she was afraid that Angel Rivera followed
her after she left from work one day, causing her to have a
panic attack.

"In my mind, I thought, 'this is it, they're coming to attack me-
- they're going to kill me and then come after my family,'" she
said.

She eventually learned it was not Angel Rivera, but that
debilitating sense of fear and anxiety followed her for the past
year and a half.

Stephen Montalvo was called next. He stated that he stood in the
court room with a sense of "terror and a loss for words."

He stated that Nicole is the one that "should be here today,"
and that he said he felt guilty because she should be the one to
discuss what she endured.

Stephen Montalvo said the day Nicole went missing, he went
driving, looking for her for hours.

He described the sound his parents made when they learned of
Nicole's death.

"The cries of sheer pain and anguish have stuck with me to this
day-- and it kills me," he said.

Stephen Montalvo said he didn't know evil existed until what
happened to Nicole.

Edward Montalvo was last to take the stand.

"The crimes that occurred against my twin sister did not occur
in isolation," he said.

He said abuse was constant in Nicole's household.

Edward said that Nicole constantly had injuries that she would
blame on "work." Once she told him that Christopher "threw her
through the wall."

Edward Montalvo stated that he and family members had previously
pleaded with Nicole to leave Christopher.

He described the pain of listening to his mother cry after years
of begging Nicole to leave Christopher, for her "only to be
butchered and discarded like she never mattered."

Edward Montalvo stated that the loss of his twin Nicole means
his birthday will always be a sad day.

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