Death penalty sought for man accused of killing girl
Suspect rejects plea deal; judge sets September trial date.
Williamson County prosecutors announced Monday that they will seek the death penalty in the case of a man accused of killing a 9-year-old girl at her Cedar Park home last year.
Rone Nuņez, 24, rejected a deal Monday to plead guilty to super-aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony, in exchange for a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
District Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield set a trial date for Sept. 27.
Nuņez was indicted in August on six counts, including capital murder and super-aggravated sexual assault of a child, in the April 25 death of Cecilia Margarita Izquierdo-Vallina.
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley declined to comment on the case.
If Nuņez had accepted the plea deal, he would have been spared the possibility of a death sentence if convicted of capital murder.
"It's a very difficult decision," Nuņez's attorney Steve Brittain said. "But that's Mr. Nuņez's choice. It's his life, and we just want to give him enough information that he is able to make the choice that suits him."
Nuņez, who is a Honduran national, is accused of slashing Cecilia 's throat with a "knife or unknown object, in the course of committing or attempting to commit aggravated sexual assault or kidnapping," according to the indictment.
Nuņez rented a room in a house in the 2100 block of East Riviera Drive and lived with the girl's family, but he was not related to family members, officials said.
Cedar Park police initially ruled Cecilia's death an accident by electrocution when family members found her unresponsive in the backyard about 3:30 p.m. April 25.
http://www.statesman.com/news/williamson/death-penalty-sought-for-man-accused-of-killing-207248.html?cxtype=ynews_rss
Bookmarks