Today Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist filed a legal brief urging the court to treat 14-year-old Cristobal Arroyo as an adult for his participation in the murder of Hector Hernandez-Valdez. Cristobal Arroyo and his brother Luis were charged with Murder in the First Degree for killing 15-year-old Hector in their home on June 1, 2012. The victim was stabbed more than 34 times and his body dumped in a recycling bin. Luis Arroyo was also charged with Robbery in the First Degree.
“This is a brutal adult-sized crime that calls for adult-sized accountability,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. “Justice and common sense calls for the defendants to be tried together as adults.”
In accordance with Washington State law, Luis Arroyo was charged automatically as an adult because he was 16 years old at the time of the crime. Cristobal Arroyo must be prosecuted as a juvenile unless a court finds that he should be treated as an adult. At a hearing on September 12, the court will consider several criteria, including the seriousness of the offense, whether it was committed in an aggressive or violent manner, and whether the community can be adequately protected through the services available in Juvenile Court.
The State’s brief outlines previously known facts and presents new information. Tacoma Police Department investigators believe Luis Arroyo invited the victim to the home. When he was arrested he had cash and marijuana police believed belonged to the victim. The defendants were in the process of cleaning the crime scene when their mother arrived home unexpectedly. She saw the deceased victim and drove to a police substation to report the crime. Responding officers found the victim’s body, wrapped in a blanket, in a recycling bin in the alley behind the residence.
Police also recovered two notes from the Arroyo residence. The first note, consistent with Cristobal Arroyo’s handwriting, includes a series of check boxes labeled: “lay out bags, shut her up, hammer her bones, cutting off limbs, cutting off head, cutting open,” and “done.” A 7-year-old female relative of the defendants was home at the time of the killing. She told an interviewer that she heard pounding on the stairs, saw a knife, and saw blood on the carpet and on Luis Arroyo’s sleeve. The defendants told the girl that the knife and blood were “fake” and set her in front of a television to watch cartoons.
The second note, consistent with Luis Arroyo’s handwriting, includes: “cut open, shank the stomach, wack (sic) the head, camera set up.” Detectives recovered a cell phone at the defendants’ home that contained a short video clip showing the victim lying face down in a bath tub. The brothers’ voices can be heard in the video, swearing at and taunting the lifeless body. In statements to police, the defendants admitted that the victim was alive and making noises when they put him in the bathtub. They ran water over the victim and one of them cut his throat.
An autopsy revealed that the victim had been stabbed or cut more than 34 times in the head, neck, back, hands, and chest. There were approximately 60 small puncture wounds on the victim’s back and his skull was fractured, consistent with having been struck by a baseball bat or a hammer. Some of the wounds were inflicted post mortem.
If prosecuted as a juvenile, Cristobal Arroyo would face a maximum sentence of about six years, or incarceration up to age 21. As an adult, the standard range for Murder in the First Degree with a deadly weapon is 22 to 28 years in prison. A hearing to determine whether Cristobal Arroyo is tried as a juvenile or an adult is scheduled for Wednesday, September 12 at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom JCD2 at Remann Hall, located at 5501 6thAvenue in Tacoma.
Charges are only allegations and a person is presumed innocent unless he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
