Fight over stabbing victim’s burial goes to judge

Jen Lawson

Monday, Feb. 3, 2003 | 10:50 a.m.

A probate judge will hear arguments Friday as to where 3-year-old homicide victim Kristyanna Cowan should be laid to rest, according to court documents.

Kristyanna's father, David Cowan, filed an injunction and a temporary restraining order Friday against the girl's mother, Tamara Bergeron, and Desert Memorial, where Kristyanna's body is being held.

Cowan is asking the court for permission to take Kristyanna to his hometown, Banning, Calif., to be buried, while Bergeron wants her body to be cremated by Desert Memorial in Las Vegas.

Cowan is also asking that Bergeron be prohibited from preventing him from viewing Kristyanna's remains.

Kristyanna and her 10-year-old sister, Brittney Bergeron, were stabbed Jan. 22 in Mesquite, allegedly by two teens who were angry about a bogus drug deal. Brittney Bergeron survived the attack but is paralyzed from the waist down.

According to court documents, Tamara Bergeron and her daughters moved from California to Mesquite in August without court permission after she found out Cowan was preparing to seek custody of Kristyanna.

The court documents filed by David Cowan allege that Bergeron sold illicit drugs and was addicted to methamphetamine, making unfit to make decisions as to the disposal of Kristyanna's body.

The two suspects in the stabbing, Beau Maestas, 19, and his sister Monique Maestas, 16, are being held in Utah, where they fled after the attack. They are fighting extradition, and Nevada authorities are in the process of bringing them back to face charges including murder and attempted murder.