Slain girl’s mom tells of sorrow, suicide attempt

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

The North Las Vegas woman whose 9-year-old daughter was gunned down while she played outside her apartment complex told jurors Monday that severe depression afterward caused her to attempt suicide.

Noemy Estrada said her life has been filled with sorrow since her daughter, Genesis Gonzales, was killed in the courtyard of her apartment complex near Civic Center Drive and Cheyenne Avenue.

Jurors last week found Pascual Lozano, 24, guilty of capital murder in Genesis' killing, and they spent Monday listening to his and his victim's family members as they prepare to decide whether he should be executed.

Estrada told jurors Monday through a Spanish-speaking interpreter that her daughter's death nearly killed her too.

"I took sleeping pills and they took me to the hospital," she said. "I told (the doctor) I couldn't handle it any more. I was suffering too much."

Estrada said she spent time in a psychiatric hospital and still suffers from depression. She said it was the love of her surviving children, Tannia, 14, Heidi, 9, and Jonathan, 6, that kept her going.

Estrada's tearful testimony kicked off more emotional testimony from family members of both Gonzales and Lozano. Jurors cried openly during much of the testimony and Lozano held his head down and wiped his eyes at various stages of the testimony as well.

Tannia Gonzales, who also testified, said she also has battled depression since her sister's death. Tannia was babysitting her siblings and several other children on Sept. 7, 2002, and had let them play outside when the shooting occurred.

"I couldn't stop thinking about my sister laying on the floor surrounded by blood," she said.

Still, the 14-year-old told the man who jurors determined was responsible for her sister's death: "To Pascual Lozano, I don't hate you because I only know how to give love to everybody," she said. "God bless you. You will always be in my prayers."

Jurors found Lozano guilty of firing the shots that killed Genesis. Prosecutors had argued that the bullets were actually meant for a man named Robert Valentine, whom Lozano was chasing through the courtyard.

Authorities believe Genesis was protecting a 10-month-old baby when she was shot. Heidi Gonzales was shot during the incident, but she survived.

At the conclusion of the penalty phase, jurors will determine whether Lozano should be executed for his crime. They can also choose a sentence of life in prison without parole or with parole eligibility after 40 years.

Jurors on Monday learned the details of Lozano's criminal past.

In 1997, Lozano pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a drive-by shooting that injured three people, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said in a brief opening argument. Lozano had only been out of prison for two months when he fired the shots that killed Gonzales, Kane said.

But defense attorneys argued that Lozano did not deserve to die for his crime.

Deputy Special Public Defender Ivette Maningo urged jurors to consider Lozano's entire life, not just his two convictions.

"There's so much more to his life than what happened on Sept. 7 and this other crime," she said.

Several of Lozano's family members, including his father and his three sisters, also took the stand and asked jurors to spare Lozano's life.

Lozano's older sister, Victoria, said she and her five siblings were raised by their mother in North Las Vegas. Though the neighborhood was plagued with crime and violence, she said, Lozano had a normal childhood and had a close relationship with his family.

Victoria Lozano, who has five children of her own, said she has a daughter Genesis' age and that she sympathizes with Estrada's family.

"I feel bad on both sides," she told jurors. "But please don't take my brother away from me and my children."

Lozano's other sister, Suzie Lozano, said she has only negative memories of life growing up in North Las Vegas. She was constantly getting into fights with people in her neighborhood and she often fought on Pascual's behalf, she said.

When asked to describe her memories of her childhood, Suzie Lozano said, "Nothing good. When I think back it's all negative thoughts."

Suzie Lozano said Pascual was a caring person and who cared for her and her three children.

"He's not a bad person like everyone thinks he is," she said.

Lozano's father, Pascual Lozano Sr., a painter who lives in Glendale, Ariz., said Pascual was 12 when he met him for the first time. The two had only begun to develop a relationship in recent years, he said.

But jurors appeared to be most moved by the testimony of Estrada and Gonzales, the state's only two witnesses.

Estrada said all three of her children have suffered since their sister's death. Heidi has developed rheumatoid arthritis in her joints since the shooting and is now confined to a wheelchair, she said.

"Sometimes she says she doesn't want to live anymore," Estrada said.

Estrada said she moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles four years ago to escape the crime there. She divorced her husband after surviving an abusive relationship, she said.

"I worked hard as a single mom and sometimes worked two jobs to get my kids ahead," she said. "I thought we would be better out here."

Estrada described Genesis as a caring child who always wanted to help others. She often helped her teacher at school communicate with children who were new to the United States and spoke only Spanish, she said.

Genesis also wanted to be a pediatrician, Estrada said.

When Genesis saw television commercials depicting sick children in Africa "she used to say she would go there and she would cure them all," Estrada said, crying. "Can you imagine the great human being we have lost?"

Estrada did not say whether she believed Lozano should be put to death for his crime. She just asked jurors to "do justice."

"I'm asking you all to do justice, not because she was my daughter, but because she was a great person," she said.

Closing arguments in the penalty phase were expected to take place this afternoon.