Anthonieska Avilés pleads guilty to killing Gabriela Pratts in Aibonito and receives 38 years
Avilés, 18, accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors and avoided trial for the murder in Aibonito. Her mother is serving a 102-year sentence.
Guilty of murder: 38 years in prison for Avilés for the death of Gabriela Nicole Pratts
According to univision.com, one year and one month after the crime, Anthonieska Avilés pleaded guilty on Tuesday, 15 September before Judge Juan A. Reyes Colón of the Superior Court of Aibonito. The 18-year-old accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors that imposes a sentence of 38 years and one day in prison, avoiding trial for the murder of Gabriela Nicole Pratts.
Avilés had originally been charged with first-degree murder, as was her mother, Elvia Cabrera. The charge was reduced to second-degree murder as part of the deal, which significantly shortened her sentence. She will be 56 years old when released. However, because she was under 21 at the time of sentencing, she may request parole in 10 years.
Cabrera, who was tried separately, was found guilty by a jury of murder and violating the gun law, and was sentenced to 102 years in prison.
Before the judge, Avilés did not express remorse for Pratts' death. "I maintain that my mother is innocent. And all the witnesses at her trial have lied," she said tearfully.
During the hearing, Lismary Torres Rosario, Gabriela Nicole Pratts' older sister, who was present the night of the incident, also spoke. With visible effort, she addressed the court: "At least I expected her to regret Gabriela's death, because for all these acts that she committed, even though Gabriela is not here she deserves an apology."
Torres Rosario also pointed to her mother, Lisandra Rosario, present in the courtroom, and demanded that "that woman there deserves to be apologised to, because they took away half of our heart." She closed her remarks with the words: "May God take care of each person's heart and may time speak, if it has to speak."
Source: Google News PR — Crime