By the time Shawna Forde was 12 years old, she'd been abandoned by her mother multiple times, molested by two men, shuttled from place to place and been caught stealing.
These and other details of Forde's life don't justify or excuse her involvement with people like Jason Bush and Albert Gaxiola, but they may help explain it and how she came to be in Arivaca in May 2009, defense attorney Jill Thorpe told jurors Tuesday.
A Pima County jury convicted Forde, 43, Monday of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2009, deaths of Arivaca residents Raul Junior Flores, 29, and Brisenia Flores, 9.
The Floreses were shot after a man and a woman claiming to be law-enforcement officers demanded entrance into their home ostensibly to look for fugitives.
Prosecutors presented evidence Forde recruited a group of people to rob Flores of drugs, weapons and cash to fund her border protection group, Minutemen American Defense.
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Bush, the alleged gunman, and Gaxiola, 44, are scheduled to be tried separately this spring.
On Tuesday morning, the jury decided enough aggravating factors exist in the case to make Forde eligible for the death penalty.
Specifically, they found Forde intended for the murders to take place and Forde was a major participant in the robbery of the Floreses and the burglary of their home.
In addition, they said Forde was found guilty of other serious offenses Monday, her motive was money, more than one person was murdered and Brisenia was younger than 15 and Forde was older than 18.
Thorpe and co-counsel Eric Larsen hope they can persuade jurors to spare Forde's life, saying there is more to Forde than what happened the morning the Floreses died.
Jurors were told Tuesday Forde was born in 1967 to a family with a long history of incest and child molestation. By the time Forde was 5, she'd lived in seven households because her mother continually chose her boyfriends over her children. She was molested by an uncle and an adoptive father, and she was physically abused by a foster mother.
Forde eventually went from running away and stealing to prostitution while still a teenager, Thorpe told the jurors.
Thorpe told jurors they will hear experts testify that because of Forde's childhood she developed a personality disorder with narcissistic tendencies. Forde has problems with deductive reasoning, problem-solving and "seeing the big picture," Thorpe said.
Mitigation expert Margaret DiFrank testified she spent months researching Forde's background, interviewing family members, gathering relevant documents and writing reports.
The background of defendants is critical, DiFrank said, because the U.S. Department of Justice has done studies indicating the chemical makeup of children who endure poverty, abandonment and abuse before age 6 is altered, and the more trauma suffered the greater the impact on development.
Forde's mother, Rena Caudle, gave birth to nine children by five men and is currently raising a grandchild, DiFrank said. Caudle's mother was an incest victim and Caudle's own firstborn child was fathered by her stepfather, DiFrank said.
Jurors began listening to a 90-minute videotape interview with Caudle Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, jurors heard again from Flores' wife, Gina Gonzalez, who was shot twice that morning, but survived by pretending to be dead.
Gonzalez, who testified during the guilt-or-innocence phase of the trial, again tearfully shared the details of her husband and daughter's last moments.
She sobbed as she recalled being powerless to defend or save Brisenia. "I don't understand how someone can have that much hate in their heart," Gonzalez said.
She told the jurors Brisenia loved the color yellow, the Disney character Belle and drawing. She also loved clothes. "She had a morning outfit, an afternoon outfit and an evening outfit," Gonzalez testified.
Gonzalez said she and "Junior" were getting ready to celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary.
If the jury spares Forde's life, it will be up to Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo to decide if Forde should receive two life sentences with or without the possibility of parole.
Forde was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder and various burglary, assault and robbery charges.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
