PHOENIX — Two years after Irene Luevano's body was found dumped in the desert west of the Valley, her killer has been sentenced to 33 years in prison.
However, Jorge Quintero Lara's sentence falls short of what Irene Luevano's family has been asking for.
Quintero Lara, who was Irene Luevano's boyfriend at the time of the murder, accepted a plea deal in December, pleading guilty to 2nd-degree murder, kidnapping and forgery. The family was against the plea deal and wanted the case to go to trial.
"He has to pay for what he did," Irene Luevano's mother said in court.
"He doesn't deserve 33 years, he deserves more," Irene Luevano's daughter, Marilisa Salgado, told the judge.
Luevano's family continued to ask for a longer sentence for Lara in Friday's sentencing.
"It has been really difficult. All the holidays without her, all the birthdays that she's missing out on," Victoria Luevano told the judge. "I do not understand why this monster took her away from her family. And I know I will never get the answer to it."
Irene Luevano's body was found 100 miles west of the Valley in the desert in January of 2022, four days after Irene Luevano called her oldest daughter, telling her Lara had stabbed her in the neck.
"I do think it's important to highlight the immense amount of pain Ms. Luevano must have felt in her last moments," the prosecutor from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said at the sentencing. "The complete disregard the defendant had as she bled out and begged for her life. And the fact that he drove out of county and discarded her in the desert like she was nothing."
When given the opportunity to address the judge during Friday's sentencing, Lara simply thanked the judge.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Rueter accepted the plea deal at Friday's sentencing, despite the family's requests for a trial or a longer sentence.
"I just want you to know that I'm not equating 33 years to a life," Rueter said.
"If you go to trial — and I'm not gonna get into all the legal issues — but there could be a result where we're talking about the very same thing, the same sort of sentencing range," Rueter said. "And really, it just would be more heartache, more emotionally draining for you."
The family has continually attended hearings for the case, wearing shirts bearing a picture of Irene Luevano.
"You don't have to fight for Irene anymore," Rueter said. "That job's done. You did a good job for her, I think she'd be proud of you."
The family said they were "hurt" by the judge's decision.
"We were expecting to get at least a little more years, you know, but the judge decided 33 years so we just have to go with that," Sandra Mercado, Irene Luevano's sister said. "The saddest part is Jorge didn't even show no remorse at all — he didn't even say sorry to the family."
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