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SALT LAKE CITY — Jessica Romero McDonald told one of the two men who murdered her sister that she now has a mission to help others going through what her family did, and is training to be a police officer.
She said the two men still have the freedom to call their families, while she can't visit her sister — Conzuelo "Nicole" Solorio-Romero — who was shot and killed in February 2021 at the age of 25.
"We live through this every single day, and even though we did absolutely nothing wrong, we still feel guilty for having to plan family trips and moving on with our lives. It doesn't feel right without her," she said during a sentencing hearing for Orlando Tobar.
Julianna Bersamin, the younger sister of Solorio-Romero, said she was separated from her sister at a young age and they were reunited just three years before her death and formed a close relationship.
"My sister will never get to meet my children. She won't get to see her two daughters grow up. And me and my other sisters will never recover from losing her. I believe in forgiveness, but this is unforgivable," she told Tobar.
'Monstrous' actions lead to consecutive sentence
Tobar is one of six people who have been charged in connection with Solorio-Romero's death, and one of two sentenced to prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to her murder.
Third District Judge Patrick Corum sentenced Orlando Esiesa Tobar, 33, to at least 30 years in prison — two consecutive terms of 15 years to life, one for murder and the other for aggravated kidnapping, both first-degree felonies.
This sentence was not what prosecutors recommended for Tobar based on his plea deal, but Corum said photos presented at the preliminary hearing of his actions just after the murder of him cracking jokes and then acting out the killing is not a reaction expected from someone who should rejoin the community.
Corum called it "deeply, deeply concerning" and "monstrous" that Tobar could be involved in a murder and "immediately afterwards be joking around."
Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Anna Rossi said photos from after Solorio-Romano was shot show Tobar laughing, showing pictures of her dead body, licking what a witness said was her blood from his hand and "dancing around reenacting the shooting." The judge added that Carolina Marquez, a woman also charged with the murder, was shown laughing as well.
Corum also noted before issuing his sentence that Tobar has been charged with a similar murder in Guatemala.
2 different sentences
Like Tobar, Jorge Rafael Medina-Reyes, 25, listened to a Spanish translator through headphones at his sentencing, which occurred about an hour and a half before Tobar's. Like Tobar, he was given two sentences of 15 years to life in the Utah State Prison for murder and aggravated kidnapping, first-degree felonies, but the judge ordered his sentences to run concurrently.
Corum said the facts in Medina-Reyes' case "screamed out for consecutive sentences," and the senselessness and callousness of the case "shocks" and "saddens" him. Regardless, he opted to follow the prosecutors' recommendation of concurrent sentences, saying he believed the man was remorseful.
Rossi explained that she had agreed to recommend concurrent sentences for both defendants after multiple discussions with the victim's family. However, she said Medina-Reyes' case was different because he accepts responsibility and recognizes his actions were inexcusable.
Medina-Reyes stood up and apologized to the victim's family and his own family in Spanish, with a translator interpreting his words.
"I know what I did is unforgivable, and I am saying sorry to all the family," he said, noting plans to study, work and become a better person while in prison.
Tobar chose not to speak, although his attorney, Joshua Snow, said he was conveying what Tobar wanted the courtroom to hear. He said the case is more complicated than it appears and said his client had learned to make decisions based on self-preservation.
The victim's body was found because Tobar came forward shortly after being arrested to help officers find it.
She didn't deserve to be killed
Rossi said Solorio-Romero "was a beautiful young woman, who was a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a friend and a mother," reminding those in the courtroom that the case is about her.
She said the woman was kidnapped, and the kidnappers drove around for hours before she was brought into a home and shot in the head twice — once by Medina-Reyes and once by Tobar.
Solorio-Romero had been forcibly taken from her home at 5133 W. 5400 South at gunpoint or knifepoint by Tobar and Medina-Reyes, Tobar told police "that Carolina Marquez instructed him and Medina-Reyes to pick up Nicole because she owed Carolina Marquez money," court documents state. She was eventually taken to a studio apartment in West Valley City, 1136 W. Elba Ave., which was Carolina Marquez's residence, and was killed.
The attorney said investigators still weren't sure about the motivation behind the murder. Regardless, Solorio-Romero did not deserve to be kidnapped, killed or "thrown off the side of the road like a piece of garbage." Some of the possible motivations were that she was accused of being a snitch or that she may have been doing drugs with Carolina Marquez's daughter.
Carolina Marquez, 42, and Fernando Marquez, 24, are also charged in the case with murder, aggravated kidnapping and obstructing justice, all first-degree felonies.
Carolina Marquez is also charged with abuse or desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony. She is scheduled for a hearing on Aug. 1.
Ivan Jesus Acosta, 30, is charged with obstructing justice, a first-degree felony, and desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony. His next hearing is scheduled in October, on the same date as the next hearing for Fernando Marquez.
