| OCR Text |
Show Als The Salt Lake Tribune NATION Sunday, September 15, 1996 Teens Killed Baby; Couldn’t to interviewthe girl who had given birth in the park — knowing that Gabriella had refused requests from reporters at the state’s newspapers and television Bury the Guilt stations. I got the assignment. Deputies at the Humboldt County Deten- tion Center would notlet metalk ®@ Continued from A-1 to her — nor would they give her anymessages. So I wrote her a let- wrappedit in his shirt Gabriella struggled to ter, explaining that I was a jour- Juan nalism student her age and could relate to her dilemma. Three days later, she called from a phone in over- come the numbing pain. She was the center. exhausted, and moving was diffi- cult. For more than an hour, she sat in the Fiberglas cubicle, blood everywhere. “The hard stuff [pleading guilty] is over,” Gabriella said. “But it’s going to be hardbeingin She eventually found the strength to stand, and managed to tencing hearing] with Juan and change her clothes. She inched her wayto the car, and they drove to Aaron's house, Juan went to the doorandtold Aaron what was happening. Then everyone piled into Aaron's truck for the drive to Gabriella’s Before she left the boys, Juan told police, Gabriella three times instructed him to “get rid of” the the same room [during the sen- AaronGuilbert But guilt slowly consumed them. Twoyearslater, Juan could standit no more. He confessed to his Mormon bishop, Steve Hall, then to the Humdoldt County District Attorney Mike McCormick. Aaron and baby. Gabriella denies making that statement, but acknowledges her memory of the evening is Gabriella also confessed to McCormick. Alone in the truck with Juan, Aaron offered three suggestions tosave the baby: takeit to a hospital, leaveit on the steps of a random Winnemucca home, or even take it back to his house. questions at the police station. Her mother, Mary Ann Muniz, ac- Ultimately, the boys panicked. ‘Dwo hoursafter it was born, the aby waskilled by the weight of Aaron’s truck rolling over it. Juan twice drove over the child. Then he and Aaron buriedthe babyina shallow grave along Interstate 80. It lay under a billboard sign that advertised a park for RVvehicles. Somehow, that horrible night in January 1994 faded like a bad dream. The teens movedon with their lives. Gabriella and Juan, who had beenfighting before the baby was born, broke up for good. As a junior at Lowry High, Gabriella participated in a dance group and worked parttimeas a receptionist at a lawfirm Juan and Aaron, popular students, played on the school's bas- ketball team and wereelected as Winterfest King candidates. Gabriella was baby-sitting when the call came for her to answer, companied her, and learned for the first time that she had a grandson buried along the free- way. It was a big story for Nevada. And it broke in June, several days before we arrived at a weeklong writing and reporting workshop on teen pregnancyat the Univer- sity of Nevada in Reno (UNR). “Read this,” workshop adviser and UNR Paul Mitchell told the 12 of us on day one. “There is no reason this had to happen.” Planned Parenthood presented us with 7-pound, plastic simulator babies that looked real and made lifelike cries. Everywhere we went, we hadto bring the babies and all the baby gear. At Planet Hollywood, the college cafeteria and in downtown Reno, we weremet with cold, dis- Aaron.” Hourslater she called back erying, explaining that her attorney was angry that she had spoken to me. I agreed not to write a story until after she was sentenced. Between June and early Sep- tember, we exchanged letters, phone calls and prom pictures. Gabriella had a tough time. She gained weight because the food was greasy and she could not exercise. There wasa longline for showers, meaning she could not shave her legs as often as she liked. That grossedherout. It was impossible to curl her hair. And she couldn’t wear makeup. Marilyn Newton/The Associated Press Juan Lopezsits in court aftertelling a secret that was too muchto bear: He killed his baby. Gairanaseeee The judge ordered her to take emotional and psychological evaluations. She missed her family ichae and friends. But she could not talk to the other inmates because if she said the wrong thing, her lawyer warned, they could testify against her at sentencing. She turned to poetry, seratching haiku about her brothers, her mother and the outdoors on prisonstationery. The baby, she decided, would be named Alma Lopez Dexter. Ashes from the cremation would be buried in an Idaho cemetery, THE ARTS AND CRAFTS STORE™ where other membersof her family lay, after a memorial service. OnSept. 5, the three teens — all charged as adults — marched into 3rd District Court wearing orange jumpsuits. Gabriella, Juan and approving stares, That made us realize we werenot ready for the social alienation teen parents Aaron wore stoic faces, but nearly everyone else in the crowded face. Mitchell asked for a volunteer See Next Page Findthe pertect frame eC CLs Pemer VA Pea HIRSCHBERG? ria DRIED CURUAUE MINI PHOTO LBUMS Oa] Rages VENTURA GOLD RESIN WALL AC Save up to 39% Ne ny WEATSHIR TENNER AUS See ee Beeeee Tae afie sO TO aii a MAL lid e100) tam 5 ce y : Pe rey Ae P Aes ~~ a 5 SVURaanNicaea Ct tc bt ae i Z http: jane Paripeesti Sey Hurry In Today! Don't Mis | September Zi * Ipm-3 Worksho} echutall FREE — Acme ikePe was here. pemieesendains the frigid air, i : when you purchase materials at Michaels. Pre-registration is sremres. due to Baked npace. 1-800-MICHAELS |1-800-622-4235)d ene s Home Decor-E\po! POOR COPY |
