Officer Sean Higgins and his partner Jessica Thomas arrived at 4 p.m., the first responders on the scene. Frazier was curled in the fetal position, her hand on her face, her feet towards the door of her car and her head resting against the curb... She was wearing a blue jeans and a black winter coat with fur around the hood. According to Higgins’ testimony, her face and lips were blue. She was missing fingertips from both hands. From her pockets, police recovered $292, lip gloss, and a rubber ball. Cruz, lying next to her in jeans and a white t-shirt, was agitated, clutching his leg and excitedly grasping at Frazier’s arm, pulling her towards him. He kept asking if she was dead.
Higgins assessed the scene: There was blood on Frazier’s chest, on the pavement, and inside the car. Around the outside of the car there were parts of fingers and clumps of long, wavy, dark-brown hair. It wasn’t until EMS arrived that Higgins even noticed a child in the car. Sitting in his car seat, [A] was very white, stone-faced, looking straight ahead...
According to her parents and grandparents, Frazier was a doting and affectionate mother to [A]. Rather than leaving him with relatives, she would always take him with her whenever she went to Wal Mart, McDonald’s, or other places on errands. He was her sidekick, a partner...
In a written statement... Cruz described how he felt Frazier was moving out of his life slowly. He brooded over these thoughts while alone on the road driving trucks, resenting Frazier for taking their son with her wherever she went... In addition, Cruz was angry about paying child support, claiming the payments affected his lifestyle, according to Devon Miller’s written and videotaped statements.
Despite his confession, Miller pleaded not guilty and went to trial... He was convicted on June 29, 2010 and is serving his life sentence for murder and criminal possession of a weapon...
Cruz initially pleaded guilty and accepted a sentence of 20 years to life with the condition that he assist the prosecution in the case against his cousin... Cruz entered his plea but then claimed he was innocent, violating the sentencing agreement. As a result, the original sentence was revoked... Cruz was denied an appeal and sentenced to life without parole on April 5, 2010.
