MOUNTAIN HOME -- A Mexican national who killed his girlfriend and her two young sons has been sentenced to three concurrent sentences of life in prison with no parole.
Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco appeared before an Elmore County judge Monday morning for sentencing. The judge told Lopez-Orozco he was imposing the rare fixed life sentence because of the heinous nature of his crimes.
In this situation, because the crime is so totally unexplainable, and so totally senseless, the court feels that the risk to the community if Mr. Orozco were to be returned to them, would always be present, Judge Timothy Hansen said.
Orozco has been wanted in connection with the crime for over a decade. Prosecutors say he shot and killed Rebecca Ramirez and her two young sons in the summer of 2002.
Investigators say he shot all three 'execution style' in the head or the chest. The 36-year-old is also accused of burning their bodies inside a car near the Snake River.
Lopez-Orozco was eventually arrested after he fled to Mexico, and was extradited to the United States in 2009. Because Lopez-Orozco agreed to be extradited to Idaho to face trial, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against him.
I just want him to look at me and remember my mom's face. And while he's locked away, I want him to see her face everyday and think about what he did, Rebecca Ramirez's daughter Noemi Ramirez said during sentencing.
After sentencing, Noemi Ramirez told KTVB she feels like things are finally over and they can begin to move on.
To be honest, I wanted him to get the death penalty. But now that I think about it, I'm really happy he got life because the death penalty, he'd be let off easy, Ramirez said.
Since the murders, Martin Hernandez has cared for Noemi and her siblings, and he too says this helps in healing.
I would hate for another family to go through what we went through. It's not fair. I think they did the right thing by stopping it here, and that's as far as he's going to get. He won't be able to intimidate or hurt another woman or child again, Hernandez said.
