Strangulation of wife brings 10 to 25 years
Cynthia Coronado’s 8-year-old son got up at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom and found his mother dead, face down in the tub, wearing nothing but a sweater and socks.
He woke his 11-year-old sister and together they went to a neighbor’s house to call for help.
Later they would recall to police how their father, who had been separated from Cynthia Coronado for about two years, was in the driveway of Cynthia Coronado’s home near Vegas Drive and North Jones Boulevard, when the mother and her two children came home the night of Nov. 11, 2003.
The children’s father, John L. Coronado III, was sentenced to 10 to 25 years Tuesday in District Judge Valorie Vega’s in the strangling of his wife.
Coronado was originally charged with murder and attempted sexual assault.
He made an Alford plea to a second-degree murder charge. The plea is not an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgement that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove their charge.
“He’s maintaining his innocence,” John Coronado’s defense attorney, Patricia Palm, said in court.
Cynthia Coronado’s two sisters sobbed as they told the court how their sister’s death devastated them.
Michelle Beltran questioned, “How John could leave her in there (the tub) for her children to discover? How could he do that to his children?”
After a custody dispute, John Coronado’s parents’ received custody.
They wrote letters of support for him to the judge, calling him a “responsible and dedicated provider.” His parents said his children miss him and want him to come home.
He told police he went over to Cynthia Coronado’s house that night for about 30 minutes and they discussed getting back together. He said they did not argue. According to the police report, he said their relationship was going well.
The children told law enforcement their father and mother argued near the front door before they went to sleep.
The daughter told police she heard the words, “divorce” and “separated” and “second chance,” in the argument.
The sentence was agreed upon by Coronado’s defense attorneys and prosecutor David Schwartz.
“If we went to trial the two key witnesses would be the little children and the family wanted us to do everything we could to keep them from testifying,” Schwartz said.
John Coronado had been arrested for domestic violence against Cynthia Coronado two years before the murder.
“Cindy did love John, he just couldn’t love her back,” said Laura Espinosa, the victim’s other sister.
The two separated after she began to believe he was cheating, she said.