Maestas consents to plea agreement

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Friday, May 27, 2005 | 11:11 a.m.

A man accused of killing a 3-year-old and stabbing a 10-year-old in a Mesquite trailer park entered a plea agreement this morning in an attempt to lessen the chance that he'll be sentenced to the death penalty.

Beau Maestas and his sister Monique were scheduled to stand trial on May 31 for the January 2003 killing of 3-year-old Kristyanna Cowan and the stabbing of her then 10-year-old half-sister, Brittney Bergeron, in a trailer in the CasaBlanca hotel RV park in Mesquite.

Brittney was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Beau Maestas agreed to a plea deal today that drops some of the charges, which may lessen the chance that a jury would give him the death penalty. Jury selection is now scheduled to begin Tuesday afternoon for Beau Maestas' penalty hearing. A new trial date will be set in the next few weeks for his sister.

Beau Maestas originally faced one count each of murder, burglary, attempt murder all with use of a deadly weapon and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

This morning he pleaded guilty to one count each of murder, attempted murder and burglary all with use of a deadly weapon.

Under the plea agreement prosecutors will now only present one additional charge called an "aggravator" instead of two to a jury at the penalty phase.

If Maestas went to trial and was convicted under the original charges the prosecutors would have been able to introduce both the aggravators of committing a murder while committing a burglary and the murder was committed upon a person less than 14 years of age to the jury during the penalty phase.

Due to the plea agreement jurors at next week's penalty phase will only hear of the murder was committed upon a person less than 14 years of age aggravator when they decide Beau Maestas' fate.

The jury will decide whether Beau Maestas deserves death, life in prison without the possibility of parole, life with the possibility of parole or a set term of 40 to 100 years in prison.

Beau Maestas stood with his attorney, Pete Christiansen, at his side as Mosley explained that once the penalty phase began "there is no going back."

Beau Maestas said he understood and then proceeded to plead guilty to the three charges. His sister, Monique, sat at the defense table crying as her brother confessed to committing the attacks.

It remains unclear what her brother's plea agreement means for Monique Maestas. She faces the same charges her brother was facing prior to his plea agreement this morning.

She originally faced the possibility of the death penalty if convicted at trial, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March banned the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes.

Monique Maestas was 17 at the time of the attack.

Authorities allege the children were attacked after the Maestas siblings discovered that the children's mother, Tamara Ann Schmidt, and her husband, John Schmidt, sold them bogus methamphetamine.

Police said Schmidt left her daughters alone in a trailer at the CasaBlanca RV Park in Mesquite while she gambled.

The Schmidts are facing charges of child abuse and neglect in connection with the stabbing attack.