GUILTY!

Cuadros- Fernandez Guilty Of Capital Murder

Irony is a sometimes funny, sometimes cruel thing.

So, it was quite ironic that at the same time Ada Betty Cuadros-Fernandez was found guilty of killing 14-month-old Kyle Lazarchik in a hushed Collin County courtroom, two babies were cooing happily in the arms of their parents outside the courtroom.

A jury of seven men and five women deliberated more than eight hours over two days before reaching their guilty verdict. The decision means Cuadros-Fernandez, 28, will spend the rest of her life in prison without the opportunity for parole.

The announcement of the verdict brought tears from both sides of the case, tears of vindication and redemption for the Lazarchiks and tears of anguish from Cuadros-Fernandez’s family.

An unidentified family member cried out after the verdict was read, “It is all a big mistake, you made a big mistake.”

But the Lazarchiks and prosecutor Greg Davis said there was no mistake in this case.

“We went into this case believing the evidence against this defendant was overwhelming,” Davis said outside the courthouse. “We still believe that this verdict is based on solid, overwhelming forensic evidence. The medical testimony you heard in this case was uncontroverted that this defendant struck this baby’s head several times against the kitchen cabinet door.

“For that reason we feel this is the correct verdict, a just verdict and we believe the right thing was done.”

He then, along with the Lazarchiks, thanked the jurors and all participants in the trial.

Following the verdict, both Mike and Rene Lazarchik had an opportunity to address a sobbing Cuadros-Fernandez. They did not hold back their emotions.

Rene spoke to her former nanny through her deceased son.

“Why did you take my life away?” she asked. “You scared me. I was really afraid. You threw me into the cabinet really hard. Now I won’t ever get to walk or talk. I thought you loved me.”

She said Kyle would want to tell Ada he loved her and trusted her, laughed with her and played with her.

“I don’t understand why you killed me,” she said again. “I will never see you again and you will never be in the same place as me.”

At that point, a family member of the defendant yelled, “She didn’t do it. She didn’t do it.” She was then escorted from the courtroom.

Rene continued in her own words this time.

“On Oct. 12, I believed you to be the best thing that ever happened to our family,” she said. “On the very next day, I found out about your deception and your lies. Over the next several days, I regretted ever meeting you.

“You defined yourself on Oct. 13. You are a baby murderer and that is what you will always be.”

Then, it was Mike Lazarchik’s turn. He was full of vitriol and hate.

“Your husband, if you are even married, is going to leave you,” he said. “He is not going to want to stay with someone who is going to spend the rest of her life in prison. You will be lucky if you see your family once a year.”

He then told Cuadros-Fernandez that she is going to have problems in prison when the other inmates find out she is a baby killer.

“I truly hope you get beat every day,” he said. “I will enjoy the day when I call the jail and find out you have been beaten.”

Cuadros-Fernandez will stay in the Collin County Jail pending a decision on which prison she will be transferred to.

The sentence brings an automatic appeal. Laurie Ewing, Cuadros-Fernandez’s attorney, said during deliberations that she felt there were two errors in Judge Charles Sandoval’s rulings during the trial that will play a role in the appeal. Ewing is an appellate attorney, but no decision has been made if she will handle the appeal.