MEDIA RELEASE
THE AMANCIO PROJECT
Saturday, August 21, 2008
Contact: Michael H. Baughman at TheAmancioProject@gmail.com
www.TheAmancioProject.orgMurderer of Amancio Convicted
Yuma, AZ – Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, the Honorable Andrew W. Gould accepts the Plea Agreement arrived at in the case of the State of Arizona vs. Ruben Solorio-Valenzuela, for the murder of Amancio Corrales on May 6, 2005. Valenzuela plead guilty to Attempted Manslaughter with Aggravated Circumstances, a felony. Valenzuela will also be required to pay restitution to the family in an amount not to exceed $50,000.00. A monetary fine was also ordered by the court.
Valenzuela's sentence will begin today and he will be credited for 456 days time served. He will be required to serve 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
At the time of Valenzuela's arrest for the murder of Amancio, he was under Community Supervision (probation) for an unrelated crime; False Imprisonment resulting from a domestic violence incident involving his wife. Judge Gould ruled on both cases ordering both sentences to run consecutively. That means when he serves his prison term for the Corrales murder, he will then begin serving his Community Supervision for the previous crime. This development occurred only days before today's sentencing and is viewed by the family and The Amancio Project as an unexpected bonus.
Just prior to sentencing, the family presented their Victim's Impact Statement in the form of a Power Point Presentation which was also seen on Yuma's Public Access Court TV Channel 77 (
http://www.yuma77.tv/bbs/zboard.php?id=CourtLive). The courtroom was silent and deeply moved with many weeping. Valenzuela kept his head turned away and did not watch the presentation. Judge Gould asked Valenzuela if he wished to make a statement. He declined to do so.
Judge Gould expressed his sympathy to the Corrales family citing he understands what they are feeling because he has a son.
The "aggravated circumstances" in the plea agreement are: 1. that a deadly weapon was used in the commission of the offense, and 2. Corrales' death caused great emotional harm to his surviving family.
In agreeing to the plea deal Yuma County Prosecutor Levi Gunderson told the court Valenzuela had not planned to murder Corrales, but acted in the "heat of passion" out of "rage and humiliation" when he discovered Corrales was a male.
Valenzuela had confessed to family members the morning of the murder. According to court records, the day of the killing, he fled to Guadalajara, Mexico, for three months. He remained un-caught for his crime for over two years, until a courageous anonymous individual came forward with information which lead to his arrest. The activities of The Amancio Project and Mr. Michael H. Baughman individually, were credited by the Prosecutor for helping substantially in finding Valenzuela and bringing him to justice.
In addition to members of the Corrales family and good friends, the audience also included members from The Yuma County Rights Group, Speak Out Yuma (AWC) and representatives from Wingspan's Anti-Violence Project located in Tucson.
After family and friends left the courtroom, they met briefly with the members of the media. "This wound will never heal. It will always be open," Mrs. Corrales said outside the courthouse. "The court process has been like a knife always reopening the wound."
After the media interviews with various members of the family and friends, Mrs. Corrales invited the family and friends to her home to relax after their emotional hour in court. Later in the evening, a private graveside remembrance took place to bring a symbolic closure to this three year plus ordeal. While there, the "crystal angel pin" Mr. Baughman has been wearing since the first vigil, given to him by the grandmother of Amancio and where he "vowed not to remove it until the murder was convicted," was removed from his shirt thus closing this chapter of the Project's efforts.
###
Previous Topic
Index
