Father doggedly pursues justice in slaying of son

Kim Smith

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

Ron Cornell was relieved when Gonzalo Villalobos was arrested almost two years ago on charges of shooting his son, 16-year-old Joey Cornell, to death.

Cornell was confident Villalobos, his former neighbor, would be tried and convicted in short order and his family's ordeal would soon be over.

Now, 19 months, four trial dates, one scuttled plea agreement and a dozen court appearances later, Cornell has learned he will have to wait a little longer for what he hopes will be justice for his son.

On Tuesday a trial was delayed until possibly July after Villalobos was appointed new attorneys to replace the Clark County Public Defender's Office, which had discovered a conflict of interest.

"It's getting really old," Cornell said of the delays.

Prosecutors allege Joey Cornell died when Villalobos, 40, opened fire on a car Cornell and four of his friends were riding in on July 16, 1998. Two other boys in the car were struck by gunfire but survived.

It was the fatal conclusion to a feud that involved the alleged sexual assault of two girls in Cornell's family, Cornell said -- a conclusion that has left Cornell admittedly obsessed.

Joey's mother and sister, who ran to the scene a block from their Arizona Avenue home, identified Villalobos immediately to police.

By the time a warrant was issued for Villalobos a week later, he was gone. He was not arrested until July 2000, in Great Neck, N.Y.

Ron Cornell hasn't been content to sit back as the wheels of justice have turned. He takes his seat in the courtroom every time Villalobos appears, he is the president of the Families of Murder Victims support group and he lobbies for victims' rights bills.

When Villalobos was a wanted man, Cornell hired private investigators to track him down. He made hundreds of calls to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, FBI and Metro Police Department. He also convinced "America's Most Wanted" and "20/20" to air episodes about Villalobos.

"The first two years, I worked on the case every single day," Cornell said. "I kept conversations alive between the INS, Metro and the FBI. I made sure they knew when Gonzalo's daughter was graduating in case he showed up.

"I wouldn't let anyone lay down in it. I didn't let anyone fall asleep. I pushed and I pushed and I pushed and I pushed."

Cornell also has attended the court appearances of Villalobos' family members, at least one of whom he believes is partially responsible for his son's death.

"When Joey laid dead 50 feet from me that night, I promised Joey justice and I promised him that his death would not be in vain," Cornell said. "That is why I push as hard as I do to get laws changed for victims' rights. I also want to let Gonzalo know that I'm going to haunt him until the day I die."

Because he owns his own insurance company, Cornell said he can take the time he needs to fulfil his promises.

"My staff is wonderful," Cornell said. "It's because of them that I'm able to keep my business."

His obsession is the only way Cornell knows to deal with his grief and anger.

"How can you not be immersed in it when your son's been murdered?" Cornell asked. "How can you not be immersed when your son is dead and can't stick up for himself?"

Elynne Greene, a Metro police victim advocate, met Cornell the day of the slaying. A veteran of 25 years, she has seen plenty of victims cope with tragedy.

Some, she said, want never to speak of the tragedy again. Others, like "America's Most Wanted" creator John Walsh and Families of Murder Victims founders, Charles and Eva Collenberger, are driven to do something, anything, to get through their pain and anger.

Cornell falls into the latter group.

"Ron made a commitment to his son, Joey, but I also think that he is giving back to the community," Greene said. "I think he feels the need to give something back because he got a lot of support from the community when this happened."

While many families are torn apart by tragedies because they deal with grief differently, the Cornell family has bonded together, Greene said. As a result, Cornell is able to deal with his grief openly and in a productive manner.

Cornell was able to get legislation passed last session that permits victims and their family members to speak after a defendant does at the defendant's sentencing hearing.

Up until the law passed, defendants got the last word.

"Ron talked to a lot of people and asked them if it made sense to them. He didn't do it just for himself," Greene said. "He's become a real voice for victims who aren't in a position to speak. He has done so much good. I'm a big fan of his."

Dawn Cornell, Ron's former wife and Joey's mother, said that although she has attended most of Villalobos' hearings, she isn't emotionally equipped to do all that Ron Cornell does.

"Ron has done so much. Every week he's speaking somewhere," Dawn Cornell said. "In fact, I'll worry about him after it's over. It's what's been keeping him going."

Cornell said it will never be over for him. If he's not attending parole board hearings, he will be pursuing civil actions against the Villalobos family. If he's not doing that, he will be getting more laws changed and passed.

He would like to see a lower appellate court established to relieve the Nevada Supreme Court, a limited number of appeals and a change in the system that would allow non-violent criminals to be convicted by a majority, not an unanimous vote.

Over the past four years Cornell has grown disgusted with a criminal justice system he believes caters to defendants.

If judges aren't giving defendants trial postponements, they are giving them second and third chances to clean up their behavior, Cornell said. If judges meted out harsher punishments, there would be fewer criminals on the streets, fewer criminals clogging the system and fewer trial postponements, he said.

Cornell also has a problem with certain rules of evidence and how they may keep facts he thinks are relevant away from juries.

For example, he believes Joey's slaying was the result of a larger feud between the neighbors that started with the alleged rapes of two girls in Cornell's family. The assaults came to light when the 13-year-old killed herself.

But they might hear allegations that Joey's friend fired the first shot with a gun he had obtained to rob a store that evening, Cornell said.

"The whole story begins in May, when a little girl put a gun to her head and blew her brains out," Cornell said.

Cornell fears a jury won't hear that part of the story, or that Villalobos' son received probation in one of the assaults.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens said he could not discuss specifics of the case, but indicated he will ask District Judge John McGroarty to allow some evidence in about earlier confrontations -- if he can show a direct link to his case.

Cornell said whatever bills he lobbies for in the future will have one thing in common.

"My whole purpose in life is to make it fair for everybody," Cornell said. "I'm tired of the system walking over the victims."

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