A Tucson man who killed and dismembered his 17-year-old cousin was sentenced this week to life in prison, officials say.
Gerardo Barraza-Salinas, 34, was convicted last month of first degree murder, kidnapping and abandoning or concealing a body, after he killed a teen-aged cousin in March 2020 who had been visiting him from Mexico.
Sofia Hurtado, was staying with Barraza-Salinas and his girlfriend and their two children at his home on the city's east side, when she was reported missing.
However, investigations started a criminal investigation after finding evidence of violence inside the house. They later linked Barraza-Salinas to the discovery of numerous sites across the city where Hurtado’s remains had been buried.
Hurtado arrived in Tucson on March 15, 2020. She sent a message to her friend in Mexico three days later saying, “she was not safe and needed help.”
“This case involved the need to retrieve the victim’s mother from Mexico through the use of a highly technical and difficult use of an “immigration parole,” so that she could participate in both the trial and sentencing, as a witness and in honor of her victim’s rights,” said Pima County Attorney Laura Conover in a statement.
Hurtado’s mother was also taken to the site where her daughter was killed so she could pray and lay roses, the statement said.
