Trials and trubulations in the Nevaeh Gallegos matter!
Update on the trial of Angel Montoya
A mistrial was declared in the 1st degree murder trial of Angel Montoya, in Denver, CO last Thursday. Montoya, was being tried for the rape and murder of 3-year-old Nevaeh Gallegos. Gallegos' lifeless body was found in a ravine in Denver in September of 2007. Miriam Gallegos told police that her child, Nevaeh was taken by three black men, as she stood outside of a school in Denver. Upon questioning, Gallegos, admitted that her daughter was dead, and had been disposed of. The alleged killer, Montoya, was the live-in boyfriend of Miriam Gallegos.
Montoya at the time of Nevaeh's death was already a convicted child molester. It was later learned that Gallegos was at her job, when Montoya called her, to tell her to return home immediately. When Gallegos returned home, she found her daughter's battered and bruised body, lifeless. Instead of calling 911, she helped Montoya put her daughter's body in a duffal bag. She then called police with the fake kidnapping story. Meanwhile, Montoya, took a bus to the ravine, and disposed of Nevaeh's body. Miriam Gallegos plead guilty to her part in the tragic murder of her daughter in January of 2011. She was sentenced to 12 years. Gallegos was on the stand on Thursday, during Montoya's trial. She was the chief witness against Montoya. Part of her plea deal, was to testify against Montoya, her former boyfriend, and the man that led police to Nevaeh's body. Gallegos was told by the judge, that Montoya's past criminal record could not be brought up by anyone during his trial.
On the stand Gallegos was asked by prosecutors why she didn't call 911, when she came home from work, to discover her daugher was dead. She responded, well with his sex offender past, I thought it would be better to just help him, and say Nevaeh was missing. A mistrial was immediately called by the judge. A status hearing is scheduled for September 1st to determine a new trial date. Many including the judge in the case are wondering out loud if Miriam made that slip deliberatly to cause a mistrial and once again save Angel. Gallegos' own mother Janet Gallegos, said yesterday, that "we were so close to finally getting justice for Neveah. I don't know what's in that girl's head. I have no idea".
