Lazaro “Baby Lollipops” Figueroa, 3




Summary of Offense:

Ana Maria Cardona was convicted and sentenced to death for the long-standing abuse and murder of her three-year-old son Lazaro Figueroa.

The body of a severely beaten unidentified child was found abandoned in the Miami Beach area on November 2, 1990. The boy was later determined to be Lazaro Figueroa, the youngest child of Ana Marie Cardona. Cardona was subsequently arrested in St. Cloud, Florida in connection with the murder.

The circumstances surrounding the abuse and murder of Lazaro were revealed during Cardona’s trial: When Cardona’s well-off, drug-dealing boyfriend was murdered, he left her a $100,000 estate, which she squandered in a matter of months. Cardona had two children from him, the youngest being Lazaro. Cardona, penniless, left her children with friends and family, and they were subsequently taken by the social services. Eventually, the children were returned to their mother, and during this time, Cardona became romantically involved with Olivia Gonzalez-Mendoza. The two women hardly worked, and supported themselves, their children and their drug habits by shoplifting.

After the children were returned to her, Cardona began horrific and frequent abuse of Lazaro, as she blamed him for her fall from wealth. Lazaro was often tied to the bed, locked in a closet, or left in the bathtub with extremely cold or hot water. When his body was found, it was covered in bruises and bedsores, and the child weighed only 18 pounds.

On October 31, 1990, Cardona split Lazaro’s head open with a baseball bat, and when the child would not stop screaming, she beat him to death. Cardona and Gonzalez-Mendoza dumped the body in a Miami Beach neighborhood, fled to Orlando and were eventually apprehended in St. Cloud.

Medical examiners testified that Lazaro was dying from the extreme abuse and neglect he suffered at the hands of his mother and her lover even before he was fatally beaten with the bat that day. Lazaro had endured numerous tortures prior to his death, suffering brain damage due to untreated meningitis, anemia, malnutrition and spinal cord damage.

Additional Information:

Immigration and Naturalization Services in Miami have placed a detainer on Ana Maria Cardona.

Codefendant Information:

Olivia Gonzalez-Mendoza was convicted of Aggravated Child Abuse and Second Degree Murder. Gonzalez-Mendoza was sentenced to 15 years and 40 years, respectively, for her part in the murder of Lazaro Figueroa.

Trial Summary:

12/06/90 Defendant arrested.
01/11/91 Defendant indicted on:

Count I: First-Degree Murder
Count II: Aggravated Child Abuse

03/31/92 The jury found the defendant guilty on both counts.
03/31/92 Upon advisory sentencing, the jury, by an 8 to 4 majority, voted for the death penalty.
04/01/92 The defendant was sentenced as followed:

Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count II: Aggravated Child Abuse – 15 years

Appeal Summary:

Florida Supreme Court - Direct Appeal
FSC #79,787
641 So. 2d 361 (Fla. 1994)

05/04/92 Appeal filed.
06/02/94 FSC affirmed the convictions and sentence of death.
08/31/94 Rehearing denied.
09/30/94 Mandate issued.

United States Supreme Court - Petition for Writ of Certiorari

USSC #94-7096
513 U.S. 1160

11/29/94 Petition filed.
02/21/95 Petition denied.

State Circuit Court - 3.850 Motion
CC #90-48092

04/24/97 Motion filed.
05/26/00 Motion denied.

Florida Supreme Court - 3.850 Appeal

FSC #SC00-1366
826 So.2d 968

06/26/00 Appeal filed.
07/11/02 FSC reversed Cardona’s conviction and sentence and remanded for a new trial due to a Brady violation.
09/11/02 Appellee’s Motion for Rehearing denied.
10/11/02 Mandate issued.

Florida Supreme Court - Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus

FSC #SC01-1056
826 So.2d 968

05/22/01 Petition filed.
07/11/02 FSC granted Cardona’s 3.850 Appeal, citing a Brady violation committed by the State. Cardona’s conviction and sentence were reversed and her Habeas Petition was denied as moot.

Factors Contributing to the Delay in the Imposition of the Sentence:

Cardona’s Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence (3.850) took over three years to reach a denial. On 07/11/02, the Florida Supreme Court granted Cardona’s 3.850 Appeal and remanded her case for a new trial. Cardona was released from the Florida Department of Corrections in 2002 and is currently incarcerated in the Women’s Annex in the Miami-Dade County Jail. Her trial is scheduled for June 2009.

Case Information:

Cardona filed a Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on 05/04/92. In that appeal, Cardona argued that a limited jury instruction should have been given in conjunction with the evidence of abuse presented to the jury, and that the court erred in refusing to consider non-statutory mitigating evidence. Cardona also raised the issued that her co-defendant received a lesser sentence for her part in the murder. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentence of death on 06/02/94.

On 11/29/94, Cardona filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on 02/21/95.

Next, on 03/24/97, Cardona filed a Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence (3.850) in the State Circuit Court. When that motion was denied on 05/26/00, Cardona steadfastly filed an appeal of that decision in the Florida Supreme Court on 06/26/00. On 07/11/02, the Florida Supreme Court reversed Cardona’s conviction and sentence and remanded for a new trial citing a Brady violation committed by the State. The Florida Supreme Court found that the State withheld material criminal investigative reports of interviews with Olivia Gonzales-Mendoza, the co-defendant, which contradicted her testimony against Cardona at trial. By failing to disclose these reports, the State prevented the defense from impeaching Gonzales-Mendoza’s credibility as the State’s key witness.

Cardona filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida Supreme Court on 05/22/01. On 07/11/02, Cardona’s conviction and sentence were reversed when the Florida Supreme Court granted her 3.850 Appeal. As such, her Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus was denied as moot. The new trial is expected to begin June 2009.

http://www.floridacapitalcases.state...ails.cfm?id=60