Mother found guilty in toddler's murder

Adrianna Lucero, the young mother accused of murdering her toddler son by snapping his spine in half, burst into hysterical sobs Friday after a two-man, six-woman jury returned guilty verdicts on two felony counts.

Lucero, 18, faces a possible sentence of up to life in prison.

Her mother and sister, seated in the front row, bent over completely so their faces could not be seen as they wept aloud.

After a weeklong trial, the jurors deliberated for just 3½ hours before finding Lucero guilty of the two charges against her: first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony child abuse.

Lucero's 2-year-old son, Alejandro, died Aug. 24, 2008, after being severely injured in the Kearns home of Lucero's boyfriend, Sergio Martinez-Gonzalez.

Prosecutor Cristina Ortega painted a picture of Lucero, who was 17 then, as a young, stressed-out single parent of three babies who admitted she could lose her temper in a flash, who got extremely upset and broke things when her boyfriend contacted his wife and two children in Mexico, and who longed for a family life of her own with Martinez-Gonzalez.

Ortega also pointed out that Lucero lied about what happened to Alejandro repeatedly to police, paramedics, hospital workers, her mother and her sister.

Ortega also suggested that the jury, during its deliberations, re-examine a police interview videotape and note exactly when Lucero begins to change her story about how she took the child from a bedroom to another room to get a Jell-O snack to a different version in which she says it was her boyfriend who took the boy out of the room for a snack and returned with the child seriously harmed.

Ortega said that made no sense for the boyfriend to offer a treat since he had never done anything for the child before.

Further, Ortega contended Lucero got wildly upset when she discovered Martinez-Gonzalez had called his family in Mexico that day and her feelings of frustration and depression mushroomed to the point where Lucero snapped and took her rage out on her child.

Prosecutor Rob Parrish suggested that Alejandro — who was disliked by the boyfriend — had become the "dispensable" child because he was ruining Lucero's version of the American dream, which included a family life with Martinez-Gonzalez, college and the chance to become wealthy.