Lozano found guilty of killing 9-year-old

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 | 4:48 a.m.

Jurors this morning convicted Pascual Lozano of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the North Las Vegas shooting that killed a 9-year-old girl, and he now faces possible execution.

Jurors also found Lozano guilty of two counts of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon. He was convicted of all charges filed against him.

A penalty phase in the case is scheduled to begin on Monday, during which jurors will determine whether Lozano should be put to death for his crime.

"The state will be arguing for the death penalty," Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said after the verdict was handed down.

Kane said he could not comment further until the conclusion of the penalty phase.

Genesis Gonzales was struck by a stray bullet in September 2002 as she played in the courtyard of her North Las Vegas apartment complex with her younger siblings and several other children.

Police say Gonzales was trying to protect a 10-month-old boy when she was shot.

Defense attorneys had maintained that Lozano, 24, was not the triggerman. They said the actual shooter was an associate of Lozano's who admitted to being at the scene when the shooting occurred.

Deputy Special Public Defenders Bret Whipple and Ivette Maningo said they were disappointed with the outcome of the case but that they respected the jury's decision.

"Regardless of what happened, it was a terrible accident," Whipple said. "Nobody ever intended for this child to get killed. No one wanted this to happen."

Whipple said he plans to wage a fight against Lozano's possible execution during the penalty phase of the case.

"We will argue that (Lozano) has value," he said. "This is not a person whose life needs to be taken."

Jurors were instructed by District Judge John McGroarty not to comment on the verdict until after the conclusion of the penalty phase.

A penalty phase is held after a first-degree murder conviction, during which prosecutors and defense attorneys argue aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

Jurors will decide whether Lozano should be put to death or be sentenced to prison without parole or with parole after 40 years, Kane said.

They can also choose a fourth option of 40 to 100 years in prison, he said.

During the trial Kane and Chief Deputy District Attorney Vickie Monroe argued that the bullet that struck Gonzales was meant for a man named Robert Valentine.

They say Lozano was chasing Valentine through the courtyard and firing shots at him when Gonzales was shot. Gonzales' 8-year-old sister, Heidi, was shot in the leg during the incident but she survived.

Heidi and the girls' 14-year-old sister, Tannia, testified during the trial, but both girls were unable to identify Lozano as the shooter.

On the stand, Tannia said she was not sure of the ethnicity of the man she saw with a gun near the complex shortly after the shooting.

A state investigator, however, testified that Tannia had initially told him that the man she saw was Hispanic. Lozano is also Hispanic.

Several other witnesses said they saw a black man with a gun flee the scene in a Ford Taurus after the shooting.

Whipple said he believed Gonzales' testimony, and the investigator's subsequent testimony were major factors in the jury's decision.

"Tannia Gonzales' testimony was critical," he said. "She was the primary witness to identify the shooter."

Compelling testimony from several inmates at the Clark County Detention Center was also a highlight of the trial.

Scott Riddel, a convicted child molester, said Lozano confessed to him that he had accidentally shot a little girl while aiming for another person.

But that testimony was countered by testimony from convicted rapist Steven Newberg and a suspected sex offender, George Dunlap.

Both men testified that Riddel had told them that he planned to lie in his testimony regarding Lozano in order to gain favor with the state.

archive