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A Lubbock jury sentenced 22-year-old Yvonne Gonzales to 99 years in prison for the November 2015 beating death of 4-year-old Alyrah Sanchez, the daughter of Gonzales' live-in boyfriend.
Gonzales faced a prison sentence between five years to life after she pleaded guilty two weeks ago to a charge of murder in Sanchez's killing. She opted to have her punishment determined by a jury, which deliberated for three hours before returning in the 140th District Court with their verdict.
The verdict came after the jury heard evidence that showed Gonzales delivered multiple blows to the child that tore her liver nearly in half, damaged her pancreas and right kidney and caused a brain bleed.
Dr. Sridhar Natarajan, the county medical examiner, told jurors he believed the girl was already dead when EMTs arrived at Gonzales' home. The girl was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
However, Gonzales, who was alone with the girl, told investigators she believed Sanchez was choking on a burrito she had for dinner.
Her defense attorney, Charles Chambers, asked jurors for a 30-year prison sentence, which he said would provide justice but also allow his client a chance at redemption.
He said Gonzales, who was 19 at the time of the killing, was unable to cope with the pressures of caring for Sanchez, who he said was thrust upon his client when CPS placed the girl with her father. Soon after the couple received the girl, Gonzales also gave birth to her own child.
"Here she is, raising another woman's child, and by all accounts doing a pretty good job," said Chambers in his closing argument. "Something happened that she couldn't deal with it."
However, Lubbock County district attorney's office person crime chief Barron Slack said nothing could excuse the severity of the injuries Sanchez suffered at Gonzales' hands.
"This needs to be a life sentence," he said.
He said the injuries to the girl does not reflect a momentary loss of control out of anger or frustration.
"This is not a normal case, this is not a (case of being) a little too young, a little too stressed," he said. "This is destroying a human life, and not just any human life. This is a four-year-old child. This isn't (a case of) 'I don't have enough coping skills.' Lots of people who do not have coping skills do not run this red light to this extent."
Woman gets 99 years in beating death of boyfriend's 4-year-old daughter
A Lubbock jury sentenced 22-year-old Yvonne Gonzales to 99 years in prison for the November 2015 beating death of 4-year-old Alyrah Sanchez, the daughter of Gonzales’ live-in boyfriend. Gonzales fa…
www.lubbockonline.com