FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - The judge overseeing a murder trial in central Arizona quickly rejected a defense request Tuesday to dismiss the charges against the man accused in the death of his ex-girlfriend and his unborn child more than 20 years ago.
Marisol Gonzalez was 17 when she was fatally shot in a Cottonwood alley in March of 1997, the day she was scheduled to be induced to deliver the boy she named Andrew. Cecilio Cruz is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the deaths.
The state rested its case Tuesday after calling about two dozen witnesses, including Gonzalez’s family, law enforcement officials who investigated the case, neighbors and experts who analyzed evidence.
Defense attorney Alex D. Gonzalez immediately argued in a routine motion that the case should not go to the jury. He said the prosecutor had not produced substantial evidence to warrant a conviction.
“At the end of the day, the state’s evidence is speculation, no concrete evidence my client killed Marisol,” he said.
Authorities have said all along that the evidence is circumstantial. There are no eyewitnesses to the shooting, Cruz didn’t confess, the weapon never was found, and no DNA or physical evidence ties Cruz to the crime.
Prosecutor Steve Young argued Cruz had motive. Cruz and Marisol Gonzalez lived on opposite sides of that alley and dated as teenagers. They broke up before she found out she was pregnant, and Cruz had another girlfriend who also was carrying his child.
“He talked about wanting Marisol dead,” Young said.
He also pointed to testimony about gunshots being heard in the hours before Gonzalez’s body was found, and testimony from Cruz’s then-girlfriend about not wanting to marry him if Gonzalez had the baby.
Judge Jennifer Campbell, who is presiding over the case in Prescott, noted testimony from witnesses about animus between Cruz and Gonzalez and the suspicious location of Gonzalez’s death in considering the defense request. While there is no proof of firearms being in Cruz’s home that day, his brother and others have said weapons were kept in the house.
“We don’t have to have them there on that day for us to consider it substantial evidence,” Campbell said before denying the defense request.
The trial resumes Wednesday.
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