It’s sort of common for family members to support murder suspects, but an Arizona woman wants her son to stay in jail. The mother of Ignacio Estrada, 18, pleaded to keep him behind bars after his arrest for killing his 15-year-old sister.
“Do not release him, your honor,” the mother said in a Phoenix court. “I do not feel safe around him, and his charges are not–We all know what his charges are. It’s very serious, and I cannot get my daughter back, and I cannot get any of those moments back he stole from me, he took from me, and I beg you, your honor, please do not release him.”
Video of the hearing was obtained by 3TV.
Estrada shot and killed his sister with a shotgun on Friday, according to a probable cause statement. After his arrest, he admitted a plan to kill his family over a $20,000 loan he gave to his parents, Phoenix police claimed. His sister was murdered to stop her from telling cops, and then Estrada waited for his father to came home, cops said. According to the statement, the elder man did return, but the trigger malfunctioned when Estrada tried to shoot. Father and son fought for 45 minutes before the mother came home, and contacted authorities.
The defendant was booked on one count of first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree attempted murder, one count of kidnapping with the intent to inflict death, one counts of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of third-degree burglary. He could be sentenced to death if convicted for killing his sister.
Estrada’s mother did quite get her request. Her son is behind held in lieu of $1 million bond. A status conference in court has been scheduled for July 21. The judge did not find probable cause for the robbery and burglary charges, but cautioned the defendant that the charges could come back.
[Screengrab via Phoenix, Arizona]