Mother in Mortal Kombat case pleads guilty to child abandonment

Click to Enlarge Dana Trujillo, mother of Heather Trujillo and Zoe Garcia was arrested Thursday. Browse Our Galleries

David Young, (Bio) dyoung@greeleytribune.com
March 26, 2008

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The mother of a Johnstown teenager accused of killing her half-sister in the "Mortal Kombat" case, pled guilty to charges of child abandonment earlier this month in New Mexico.

Dana Trujillo, 30, mother of Heather Trujillo, 16, who is charged in the death of her 7-year-old half-sister Zoe Garcia, received unsupervised probation as part of her plea agreement, said Stacey Ward, deputy district attorney for the Seventh Judicial District Attorney's Office in Socorro County, N.M.

Ward said Dana Trujillo pled guilty to the charge of child abandonment on March 12. The charges are from a 2003 incident when she lived in Socorro and was accused of neglecting her children -- then ages 12, 4, and 3. Two other charges of child abandonment were dropped.

Trujillo must serve 364 days of unsupervised probation, and is allowed to return to Johnstown as part of her agreement. Had she gone to trial, Ward said Dana would have been facing three years in prison and a possible $5,000 fine.

Part of Trujillo's plea agreement includes no use of alcohol, drugs or weapons. If she violates the terms of the probation she will serve the remainder of her probation in jail, Ward said.

Trujillo was arrested in Johnstown in January following the death of her daughter, Garcia, who police say was beaten to death by her half-sister Heather Trujillo and Heather Trujillo's boyfriend, Lamar Roberts, 17.

Heather Trujillo and Roberts were arrested Dec. 6 after the two admitted to playing "Mortal Kombat" with her. The girl died from blunt-force injuries after she was apparently hit and kicked several times. "Mortal Kombat" is a popular and violent video game.

Today, Heather Trujillo and Roberts, of Westminster, are charged as adults in the case. They are in the Weld County Jail.

The attention surrounding the death of Garcia alerted authorities in New Mexico to Dana Trujillo's whereabouts, which had been previously unknown, causing police to re-issue the warrant for her arrest.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Heather Trujillo, 16, charged as an adult with child abuse resulting in death of Zoe Garcia, 7, will appear in court for a pre-trial readiness conference at 8:30 a.m. May 15. Lamar Roberts, 17, charged with the same crime, preliminary hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. April 8.

She had previously been arrested in Weld County. According to jail records, she was arrested in April 2007 on theft charges, and again in August 2007 for driving with a revoked license and for failing to appear in court. Colorado state records also show she was arrested on theft charges in Arapahoe County in 2004, and was placed on six months probation.

Following the death of Garcia, Weld County Social Services officials took custody of Trujillo's infant twins.