Grandmother chokes up

Jane "Cordova" Doe's grandmother broke down on the witness stand Friday afternoon after testifying that she was told her granddaughter was dead when she was dropped off at a Las Vegas hospital.

Lilia Perez, mother of murder defendant Gladys Perez, testified that Perez called her in February 2006 several times asking for money. At the time, Gladys Perez assured her that Crystal Figueroa, known as Jane "Cordova" Doe, was OK.

But during one phone call, her daughter told her that Crystal hurt her stomach, vomited and had to be taken to a hospital, Lilia Perez said.

Gladys Perez said she left Crystal at the hospital and that the 3-year-old was dead, said Lilia Perez, whose testimony was given in Spanish and translated through an interpreter.

There's no evidence that the child was ever taken to a hospital; prosecutors used Lilia Perez's testimony to show that Gladys Perez had acknowledged Crystal had died.

While testifying, Lilia Perez became so distraught that District Judge Michelle Leavitt stopped the trial for at least 10 minutes so she could compose herself. Her daughter, sitting at the defense table next to her public defenders, also broke down crying.

Gladys Perez, 26, and her ex-boyfriend Marc Anthony Colon, 30, are accused of killing Crystal in 2006 and leaving her body in a trash bin at the Villa Cordova Apartments on Eastern Avenue near Sahara Avenue.

Before knowing Crystal's identity, authorities named her Jane "Cordova" Doe, after the apartment complex where she was discovered.

At the time of her death, Crystal was in the early stages of malnutrition, had been beaten and suffered from wounds to her internal organs, authorities said. She died from blunt force trauma to her torso.

Authorities said Gladys Perez and Colon drove to Las Vegas in early January 2006 with Crystal and three other girls. They had left California and were on their way to Oregon to start a new life.

While the family was staying at a pay-by-the-week apartment, Colon beat Crystal to death and Perez did nothing to stop him, authorities said. Perez' attorneys said Colon beat her to keep control over her. Colon's attorneys said Perez was responsible for killing Crystal.

After the killing, Colon and Perez fled first to Oregon and then to St. Paul, Minn. While in St. Paul, they stayed with Jose Ruiz, Colon's uncle.

Ruiz, who testified Friday, said he was overjoyed to see his nephew when he arrived in Minnesota. He said Colon told him he needed help and wanted to start a new life. Perez used an alias during their visit and Ruiz knew her as Angelina Gomez.

Ruiz said he once had to break up an argument between Colon and Perez while the couple was staying with him. But he said he never saw Colon physically hurt her. Like Lilia Perez, Ruiz sobbed while he testified and had difficulty speaking because he was overcome with emotion.

Perez eventually returned to California while Colon stayed in St. Paul. While in Denver on her way back to California, she called Lilia Perez.

Lilia Perez testified her daughter said she didn't want to return to California through Las Vegas because "everything happened there."

Lilia Perez said her daughter then said that she dropped Crystal off at the hospital and that she was dead.

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