Yolanda Pena

Case record: Yolanda Pena

Status and outcome

Yolanda Guadalupe Pena was sentenced on August 27, 2013 to two life prison terms. The terms were to be served consecutively.

Sentencing

Yolanda Guadalupe Pena, 43, was sentenced to 25 years to life for the first-degree murder charge and life for the torture charge.

Trial

In June, Pena was convicted of first-degree murder, torture, assaulting a child causing great bodily injury, and inflicting injury on a child. The inflicting-injury-on-a-child count related to a daughter who was 12 at the time.

Jurors deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict.

Offence details

Pena tortured and fatally beat her 3-year-old daughter, Delilah Urrutia, after abusing the toddler and an older daughter for months.

Delilah Urrutia suffered head trauma; second-degree burns on her face, neck, chest, back and arms; cuts and bruises; and lost parts of three fingers, according to police and prosecutors. She died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to the coroner’s office.

Events at the family home and actions involving the victim

Delilah Urrutia was dead when authorities arrived at the family’s home in the 44000 block of Vista Dunes Lane in La Quinta about 10:15 p.m. on June 25, 2009. Pena told one of her two older daughters to pour hot water on Delilah for misbehavior while Pena was at work, causing burns over more than 30 percent of the child’s body, according to Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria.

When Pena got home, Delilah looked at her, which was not allowed, and “that set her off,” the prosecutor said. The defendant proceeded to beat Delilah, including being thrown against the wall and being hit with a high-heeled shoe, according to DiMaria. DiMaria also said Pena continued to hit Delilah in the head at least 20 times, based on statements from Pena’s older daughters.

Pena then stuffed a stocking in Delilah’s mouth, put a stocking over Delilah’s head, bound Delilah’s wrists and ankles, and put Delilah in a plastic bin “like trash,” according to DiMaria. Pena put the bin in a closet and left home with her older daughter to visit her best friend. Later that night, Delilah was found dead with her arms up at 90-degree angles, which DiMaria said reflected the way rigor mortis set her arms as she died in the plastic bin.

Prior abuse described during the proceedings

Investigators and prosecutors described months of abuse toward Delilah and one other daughter.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria said Pena’s older daughters stated that Delilah and an older sister sometimes sat in the bathtub while hot and cold water were poured over them. Other times, DiMaria said Delilah was tied up in the plastic bin and put in a closet, with her mouth duct-taped, or tied up in the bathtub for days at a time.

A teenage daughter testified that Pena would pepper-spray Delilah if she did not eat what was put before her, and the daughter testified that she would scream a lot in response. The teenage daughter also testified that Pena heated needles on the stove and poked Delilah with them as punishment, and that Delilah would scream.

The teenage daughter said she was staying with her mother’s best friend the day Delilah died. She said she did not initially tell a police detective or a child abuse specialist because she was scared of her mother, and she said her mother told her not to say anything to authorities. She later said she talked to her older brother, and he told her to tell the truth.

The teenage daughter also testified that her mother pepper-sprayed Delilah and poked her with hot needles as punishment. She testified that Pena’s alleged abuse included daily hitting using objects such as a tree branch, the heel of a high-heeled shoe, a cord from the television and a plastic hanger, and that Pena sometimes kept Delilah tied up in the bathtub all day.

Statements and arguments made during the trial

Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria made closing-argument statements to jurors that included the following:

“This was not an accident -- this was cold-blooded murder,” Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria told jurors in her closing argument Wednesday. “It was intentional, it was deliberate, and at the hands of that depraved woman who gave birth to her.”

DiMaria’s trial statements included how Delilah was handled on the day of her death, including the following:

“The defendant proceeded at that point to beat that little girl's brains out. She threw her against the wall, used a high-heeled shoe. ... (Pena's older daughters) said the defendant continued to hit Delilah in the head at least 20 times,” DiMaria said.

DiMaria also described the earlier day’s actions and instructions, including:

“So the defendant ordered (her daughter) to get a cup of water and heat it in the microwave ... and pour it on her sister,” DiMaria told jurors in her opening statement. “And she did that all day.”

DiMaria also quoted instructions given to the daughter, stating:

“Do not tell police what happened. Tell them she poured water on herself and that she hits herself,” DiMaria said.

Pena’s attorney, Thomas Cavanaugh, conceded that there was abuse in the household but argued it was likely that the toddler “hit her head on the floor more than once” while “fleeing from her sister.” Cavanaugh asked that jurors consider manslaughter instead of murder.

Cavanaugh’s arguments included:

“By the time (Pena) got home, this child was in a very bad way,” he said.
“those head injuries were caused before Ms. Pena got home” and Delilah's other injuries that day were not given at her mother's direction.
“She did not inflict the injuries that caused her child's death,” he said.
“ ... There are big questions about that day and a lack of forensic evidence.”
He also said there was no evidence of injuries to the two older daughters, and asked that jurors consider manslaughter instead of murder.

Cavanaugh also made a statement that included:

“Those burns were inflicted without (the older daughter) speaking to my client, Ms. Pena, that day,” Cavanaugh said in his closing argument.

Evidence related to family circumstances

DiMaria said the victim was the product of an affair Pena had while married. The then-12-year-old daughter told her father about it, leading to the breakup of the marriage.

DiMaria said Delilah and her older sister would sit in the bathtub while hot and cold water were poured over them, and at other times Delilah was tied up and placed in a plastic bin or tied up in the bathtub for days at a time.

The District Attorney’s Office described Pena as blaming Delilah for why she never reconciled with her former husband.

Quotes during sentencing

At sentencing, Riverside County Superior Court Judge James S. Hawkins made the following remarks before ordering Pena to spend her life behind bars:

“I don’t know how one human being can do that to another,” Riverside County Superior Court Judge James S. Hawkins said before ordering Yolanda Guadalupe Pena to spend her life behind bars, with the possibility of parole some day.

Judge Hawkins also said it was probably “the worst crime” he’d seen in his 17 years on the bench.

Two of Pena’s older daughters spoke at sentencing. The abused daughter stated:

“Mom, you have changed my life in a big way. I want to tell you you’re still my mother ... I hope and pray to God we can help you,” the daughter who was abused said.

The other daughter stated:

“You made me question myself ... I love you because you’re still my mother. (But) you not only took away my little sister, you took away my mom. I forgive you, but I will never forget,” she said.

Pena looked away while her daughters spoke in court; one of them cried.

Probation report dispute

Before Pena was sentenced, defense attorney Thomas Cavanaugh disputed a probation report claim that Pena lacked remorse. Cavanaugh stated:

“is clearly hurt, she’s crying hysterically, she says something along the lines of ‘God, forgive me,’ ” he said.

DiMaria countered that Delilah was abused and tortured for six months leading up to her death in a “house of horror” and “treated worse than most people treat their dogs.”

Arrest

Pena was arrested June 30, 2009, in connection with Delilah’s death, which occurred five days earlier.

People involved

• Yolanda Guadalupe Pena (43) — defendant; convicted and sentenced for first-degree murder, torture, assaulting a child causing great bodily injury, and inflicting injury on a child.
• Delilah Urrutia (3) — victim; Pena’s 3-year-old daughter; died from blunt force trauma to the head and suffered extensive burns, cuts, bruises, and the loss of parts of three fingers.
• Lisa DiMaria — Deputy District Attorney.
• Thomas Cavanaugh — defense attorney.
• Judge James S. Hawkins — Riverside County Superior Court Judge who sentenced Pena.
• Two older daughters (one age 12 at the time of the inflicting-injury-on-a-child count) — witnesses and speakers at sentencing.
• Teenage daughter (age 16 at the time of testimony; later described as 15) — testified about pepper-spraying and poking with hot needles, and later testified about daily hitting with objects.