Convicted killer Albert Gaxiola told Gina Gonzalez and the rest of her family Wednesday that he knows nothing he can say can take away the pain of their loss, but he's "truly sorry."
Wednesday was the final day in the penalty phase of Gaxiola's capital murder trial.
Last week, Pima County jurors decided Gaxiola is eligible for the death penalty in the May 2009 deaths of Gonzalez's husband, Raul Junior Flores, 29, and daughter, Brisenia Flores, 9.
This morning they'll go behind closed doors to begin discussing if the death penalty ought to be imposed.
According to prosecutors, Gaxiola and Shawna Forde decided to rob and kill Junior Flores for divergent reasons - Gaxiola to get rid of a drug competitor and Forde to get the resources she needed to operate her Minuteman organization.
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Forde was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to death, as was Jason Bush, the gunman.
On Wednesday, defense attorneys Jack Lansdale and Steve West asked jurors to spare Gaxiola's life. They argued that Gaxiola is less culpable than Forde and Bush, and they attempted to explain how his early childhood led him to make poor choices. They also pointed out that if they spare Gaxiola's life, the best he could hope for would be a 35-year-to-life prison sentence.
The defense also put a prison expert on the stand to testify that Gaxiola isn't a future danger; his age and past behavior in prison are reflective of that, James Aiken testified.
The defense attorneys also questioned relative after relative, who testified Gaxiola is a fun-loving, caring man who has a special affinity for children and a reputation for non-violence.
Forensic psychologist Mark Cunningham told jurors the more damaged a person is, the less moral culpability he has for his actions. He stressed studies have shown people become who they are based on what happens in the first five years of their life
Gaxiola, Cunningham said, was born to a woman who drank while pregnant, experienced and witnessed physical abuse, was abandoned by both his parents and came from a family rife with substance abuse and criminal behavior.
While Gaxiola was raised by an aunt and uncle between the ages of 3 and 18, Cunningham suggested the foundation upon which they tried to build Gaxiola's life already was cracked.
He didn't have the resilience or maturity he needed to tell his mother and grandfather he didn't want to get into the drug trade with them when he reconnected with them at the age of 18, Cunningham said. Nor did he have the wherewithal to stay out of the drug trade after serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Rick Unklesbay told the jurors there's no doubt some mitigation exists in the case, but they must weigh and compare it with the circumstances of the case.
It was Gaxiola who knew Arivaca. It was Gaxiola who knew Junior Flores, and it was Gaxiola who told his associate in the drug trade, Oin Oakstar, to point out the Flores home to Bush and Forde, Unklesbay said.
"Without (Gaxiola), Junior doesn't become a target. Without him, Brisenia doesn't die," Unklesbay said.
Gaxiola knew Flores' wife and children were probably home that night, and he didn't care. That fact is what moral culpability is all about, Unklesbay said.
Unklesbay also reminded jurors about a letter Gaxiola's uncle Tony Loera wrote to the jury. In it, Loera talked about raising his niece and nephews to believe that with hard work and effort they could do whatever they set out to do.
Gaxiola decided it was too much hard work and took too much effort to live the lifestyle lived by his aunt and uncle, Unklesbay said.
He decided he didn't want to work a 9-to-5 job, and he chose to go for the easy money of the drug trade, Unklesbay said.
On StarNet: Follow the news and events at Pima County's courthouses in Kim Smith's blog, At the Courthouse, at go.azstarnet.com/courthouse
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
