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PROVO — A mother described how hard it was to watch her daughter and two grandchildren experience abuse by their husband and father. She said her daughter would tell people she injured herself, when it was really a result of multiple incidents of abuse.
Her daughter's "light was sad," she said.
Celina Cruz Maciel, 27, was murdered in front of her children by her husband at their Orem home in May 2022. Socorro Cruz asked for justice for the sake of her grandchildren who experienced and witnessed so much violence.
"It makes me very sad to know that the children were so young … and that they cannot forget that sad scene," Cruz said in a statement that was translated and read in court Friday during a sentencing hearing for Luis Manuel Vargas Lopez.
She said the two children will not be lacking any love, and they are now happy.
"They are so very little and they are without a mother, but these little children are not going to be missing any love, especially from us," she said.
Vargas, 29, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, a term of zero to five years for domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony, and a term of one to 15 years for possession of a firearm as a restricted person, a second-degree felony.
Fourth District Judge Robert Lund ruled that the sentences be served concurrently. He said the sentence represents justice.
Charging documents say Vargas "tortured the victim (and) caused serious physical abuse, both of which resulted in her death." Cruz suffered significant injuries to her face.
The couple's two children were home at the time. Vargas was charged with two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child but ultimately pleaded guilty to only one of those charges on Nov. 10 as part of a plea deal that dismissed a second charge and a charge for obstructing justice. The deal also downgraded the murder charge from a capital offense to a first-degree felony.
Deputy Utah County attorney Jared Perkins said this type of crime is "what the word heinous exists in our language for." He said the man was in a dark and violent place.
Patricia Cruz, the victim's sister who is raising the children now, also shared a statement at the sentencing. She said the children used to be very fearful; now they are being taught about love and are going to school. She asked for no contact from Vargas or his family and said the children speak about their mother, but don't want to know about their father.
"The day she died was the saddest day for the family. We never imagined that Luis would end up killing her out of jealousy," she said.
Defense attorney Dallas Young sought to answer why the killing happened, saying he hopes someday his effort to answer the question will help people get to a better place. Young said extensive IQ testing found that Vargas had significant deficits in his ability to cope with daily living, to communicate and to control impulses. He said Vargas likely would have qualified for services if he were a U.S. citizen.
Young also said when Vargas was arrested, he had an amount of methamphetamine in his system that showed ongoing substance abuse that could have altered his perception.
"What happened, although it's terrible, was not the action of a monster. It was the product of the coming together of several unfortunate factors — and I want to be clear, many of them were Luis' fault, nobody forced him to start using methamphetamine," Young said.
Vargas apologized for causing his girlfriend's death and asked for forgiveness someday and thanked the people who are caring for his children.
"If I could switch my life for Celina's, I would," he said.
