A teen and her boyfriend from Johnstown, Colorado claimed that they were
acting out the video game Mortal Kombat when they kicked, karate chopped, and
body slammed 7-year-old Zoe Garcia. The two teens that attacked Garcia were her
half-sister Heather Trujillo and her 17-year-old boyfriend Lamar Roberts.
Garcia later died at the hospital as a result of the beating she received
from her sister and Roberts. This week, a judge in Weld County Colorado handed
down a suspended sentence to Trujillo for her part in the beating death.
Trujillo will be sent to a youth offender program where she will serve a 6-year
sentence rather than spend time in prison. The charge originally leveled
against Trujillo and Roberts was child abuse resulting in a death. Trujillo
pleaded guilty in May and agreed to testify against Roberts as part of a plea
bargain.
The mother of both Zoe Garcia and Heather Trujillo, Dana Trujillo, asked the
judge to be lenient in the sentencing of Trujillo according to 9News.
The mother said, “I already lost one daughter. 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."
The prosecuting attorney in Trujillo’s case asked the judge for the maximum
sentence because of the brutality of the crime and because Trujillo could have
stopped it. Robert’s first appearance in court will be at a preliminary hearing
on July 10.