Quezada

A woman whose 10-year-old son was slain last year along with two younger cousins testified yesterday that one of the men on trial in the killings, and the man's father, had made overtures toward her. Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada said Adan Canela, 18, had called her about one month before the children were killed and asked her for a "favor." Quezada said she was 38 years old at the time and believed Canela was in his early 20s. "He started telling me that he had never had a girlfriend," she testified.

The mother of two children who had their throats slashed nine years ago took the stand Thursday in the murder trial of Policarpio Espinoza Perez and described how her husband's elder brother took a romantic interest in her niece. Prosecutors have argued that friction among members of her extended family ultimately led to the 2004 murders of her children and one other young boy. During this week's trial — the third for Espinoza Perez — witnesses have faced questions from both sides about romantic tensions surrounding Noemi "Mimi" Quezada's niece.

TENENEXPAN, Mexico - The parents of Lucero, Ricardo and Alexis Quezada wanted their children to understand the simple life of their hometown, so in March, they sent them from Baltimore to this small farming village near the country's eastern coast, known mostly for its tall, abundant mango trees. They spent several weeks here in the state of Veracruz, riding mules, chasing chickens with dozens of their cousins and cooling off in the Tenenexpan River, just as their parents did when they were younger.

Ignoring the cries of innocence from one of the two relatives convicted of slashing and strangling three children, a Baltimore judge sentenced the men yesterday to two consecutive life sentences without parole and an additional 30 years in prison for crimes that he said stunned the city. Policarpio Espinoza, 24, and Adan Canela, 19, were found guilty by a jury last month of attacking Lucero Espinoza, 8; her brother, Ricardo Espinoza, 9; and their male cousin Alexis Espejo Quezada, 10, though no clear motive was presented at trial.

The mother of one of the three elementary school-age children killed in a brutal attack two years ago testified yesterday that one of the defendants charged in the murder had expressed a romantic interest in her months before. Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada's nearly five-hour testimony was similar to the testimony she gave last year, when the trial for Policarpio Espinoza, 24, and Adan Canela, 19 - both charged with first-degree murder - ended in a mistrial. Quezada, the first witness to testify, said Canela told her that he had never had a girlfriend and that he "wanted to have his way with me," she said.

The parents of the three children killed last month in a Northwest Baltimore apartment have been given permission to re-enter the United States after the youngsters' burial in the Mexican village of Tenenexpan, federal officials said yesterday. Funeral arrangements for Alexis Espejo Quezada, 10, and his 9-year-old cousins, Lucero Solis Quezada and her brother Ricardo Solis Quezada, had been on hold while authorities tried to ensure their parents could return to Baltimore after leaving the country.

Two Mexican immigrants were indicted yesterday by a Baltimore grand jury in the slashing deaths of three young relatives, one of whom was beheaded and the others partially beheaded. Adan Espinoza Canela, 17, and his uncle, Policarpio Espinoza, 22, who were arrested May 28, were each charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of conspiracy to commit murder and three counts of using a deadly weapon. Espinoza was the children's uncle, and Canela was their cousin. The victims, Ricardo Solis Quezada Jr. and his sister, Lucero Solis Quezada, both 9, and their 10-year-old male cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada, were killed in their Northwest Baltimore apartment May 27. Police say they have not established a motive for the killings.

About an hour before finding the bloodied bodies of their elementary school-age children, the mothers were parked at a nearby bank, praying and fretting, one mother testified yesterday at the trial of the accused killers. Noemi "Mimi" Espinoza Quezada, mother of 8-year-old Lucero and 9-year-old Ricardo, said she had a "premonition" that afternoon and began praying to San Judas Tadeo, the patron saint of lost causes. Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada, the mother of 10-year-old Alexis, got out of the car and smoked a cigarette, Noemi Quezada said.

Two men charged with killing three young children in a Park Heights apartment last week are scheduled for bail review hearings today in Baltimore District Court, even as new details emerge about the children's deaths. The state medical examiner's office said yesterday that 9-year-old Ricardo Solis Quezada Jr. and his 10-year-old cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada, both died from asphyxia, cutting and blunt-force trauma to the head. Ricardo's 9-year-old sister, Lucero Solis Quezada, suffered cutting and blunt force trauma to the head.

TENENEXPAN, Mexico - The route that Noemi and Andrea Quezada traveled from this small farming village into the United States is an inhospitable passage, but one that many of their family members have chanced over the years in an effort to escape grinding poverty. The women, Noemi and her niece Andrea, did not have papers to enter the United States legally, so they stole across the harsh desert from Nogales, Mexico, to Arizona. They either walked for four nights with their children in their arms or crammed into the back of a pickup truck for two days with dozens of others pressed up against them, according to family members here.

Two days before her children's throats were slashed in a Northwest Baltimore apartment, the mother testified yesterday, she suffered a miscarriage and was comforted by both of the accused killers. At the request of her husband, Noemi "Mimi" Espinoza Quezada testified that Policarpio Espinoza, 24, and Adan Canela, 19, visited her just hours after she returned from the hospital in May 2004. Espinoza and Canela are on trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court for the second time, accused of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths of a girl and two boys to whom they are related.

The mother of one of the three elementary school-age children killed in a brutal attack two years ago testified yesterday that one of the defendants charged in the murder had expressed a romantic interest in her months before. Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada's nearly five-hour testimony was similar to the testimony she gave last year, when the trial for Policarpio Espinoza, 24, and Adan Canela, 19 - both charged with first-degree murder - ended in a mistrial. Quezada, the first witness to testify, said Canela told her that he had never had a girlfriend and that he "wanted to have his way with me," she said.

The parents of a little girl and boy who were brutally killed with their cousin last year assembled yesterday at a Baltimore law office with the defenders of the men accused of killing their children. The relatives were "happy," a family friend said, that the jury could not reach a verdict in the trial of Policarpio Espinoza and Adan Canela, causing the judge to declare a mistrial. "One of these days this trial is going to be over," said Jorge "George" Zapada. "They're going to find out these [men]

A woman whose 10-year-old son was slain last year along with two younger cousins testified yesterday that one of the men on trial in the killings, and the man's father, had made overtures toward her. Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada said Adan Canela, 18, had called her about one month before the children were killed and asked her for a "favor." Quezada said she was 38 years old at the time and believed Canela was in his early 20s. "He started telling me that he had never had a girlfriend," she testified.

Two more relatives of the Mexican immigrants on trial in the brutal killings of three children took the witness stand yesterday and gave testimony that raised more questions about the behavior of family members the day of the killings. The sister-in-law of Policarpio Espinoza, the elder defendant, exchanged numerous telephone calls with him all day May 27, 2004, the day the children were killed in their Fallstaff apartment. Espinoza, 23, and his nephew, Adan Canela, 18, are on trial in Baltimore Circuit Court on three counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the deaths of 8-year-old Lucero Espinoza, her 9-year-old bother, Ricardo, and their 10-year-old male cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada.

The trial of two Mexican immigrants accused of slashing the throats of three children is scheduled to begin today, and once a jury is seated, prosecutors and defense attorneys will present different versions of what happened last year in a Northwest Baltimore apartment. Police and prosecutors believe Policarpio Espinoza, 23, and his nephew, Adan Canela, 18, an uncle and a cousin, respectively, of the dead children, used a fillet knife to behead one and partially decapitate the other two. Ricardo Solis Quezada Jr. and his sister, Lucero Solis Quezada, both 9, and their 10-year-old male cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada, were killed in their Fallstaff apartment after returning home from school the afternoon of May 27, 2004.

As the two suspects in the gruesome murder of three Mexican children pleaded not guilty yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court, parents of the victims deplored the charges and insisted police have gone after the wrong men. "I feel so terrible about what is happening," Noemi Quezada said after the arraignment, clutching her husband's arm and shielding her weep-weary eyes with dark sunglasses. Her children, Ricardo Solis Quezada Jr. and Lucero Solis Quezada, both 9, were found bludgeoned in their Fallstaff apartment May 27 along with their 10-year-old male cousin Alexis Espejo Quezada.

Two men accused of slashing the throats of three young relatives last year gave contradictory statements to police about their whereabouts the day of the killings, city prosecutors said yesterday. The revelation came during a daylong pretrial hearing, in which prosecutors defeated several efforts by defense attorneys to exclude evidence and statements. A Circuit Court judge will allow prosecutors to present evidence of the seemingly contradictory statements the defendants made to police May 27, shortly after the bodies of Ricardo Solis Quezada Jr. and Lucero Solis Quezada, both 9, and their cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada, 10, were found in a bloody Northwest Baltimore apartment.