Dad never hit Jane ‘Cordova’ Doe, girl says

In emotionally wrenching testimony, the 12-year-old daughter of a murder suspect gave conflicting statements Monday when she said her father never struck Jane "Cordova" Doe, the 3-year-old girl killed in 2006 and left in a trash bin.

Maxine Colon, a daughter of defendant Marc Anthony Colon, testified that she was inside the Las Vegas pay-by-the-week apartment with her family and Crystal Figueroa, aka Jane "Cordova" Doe, on the night the toddler is believed to have been killed.

Maxine told the jury that Crystal was sick, had thrown up and was crying. Maxine and her father wiped up the vomit and changed Crystal's clothes, she said.

Crystal's mother, Gladys Perez, who also is on trial in the slaying, was asleep in another room, Maxine said.

At some point, Marc Colon left the apartment to get some medicine for Crystal. When he returned, Maxine gave her the medicine, then they fell asleep. When she woke up in the morning, Crystal was gone.

Maxine denied that her father ever hit Crystal even though she previously told police that Colon had struck the toddler.

When asked by Chief Deputy District Attorney Pam Weckerly about the discrepancy, Maxine said the police had manipulated her into saying it.

Maxine struggled to answer questions and often replied in one- or two-word answers. At times she spoke barely above a whisper and had to take a break after about 45 minutes on the stand.

While Maxine testified, one of Colon's attorneys, Peter Christiansen, read out loud some of her earlier statements before a Clark County grand jury. Maxine told the grand jury that Perez had struck Crystal the day before she was left in a trash bin.

Colon and Perez are accused of killing Crystal and leaving her body in a trash bin at the Villa Cordova Apartments on Eastern Avenue near Sahara Avenue. The couple then fled to Oregon and Minnesota.

Crystal's identity remained unknown for about six weeks and sparked a nationwide hunt for information about her.

Colon's attorneys say Perez is responsible for Crystal's death.

Perez's attorneys say Colon is to blame and had controlled Perez so much -- sometimes with beatings -- that she was powerless to stop the slaying.

Authorities said Colon was upset with Crystal because she caused "too much drama" in their lives.

Weckerly had said witnesses told authorities that Colon struck Crystal the night she was killed.

Crystal died from blunt force trauma to the torso.

Maxine wasn't the only child to testify Monday. Leslie Figueroa, Perez's 9-year-old daughter, and Marlene Colon, Colon's 10-year-old daughter, also took the stand.

Leslie and Marlene were in the apartment the night Crystal is believed to have been killed.

Leslie told the jury that Colon and Perez got into an argument about Crystal in the apartment but that she didn't see the fight or anyone hurt Crystal the night of her death.

Marlene said she once saw Colon hit Crystal in the back, but she didn't provide details.

She testified that on the morning after the incident, she saw Colon, Perez and the other children packing up the car to leave Las Vegas.

She said they were all crying.

When she asked where Crystal was, she was told that the 3-year-old was with a grandmother, she said.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.