PHOENIX — Nearly two years after Irene Luevano was murdered, the wounds and pain of her death are still fresh for her family.
“We’re always going to carry this pain in our hearts,” said Sandra Mercado, one of Luevano’s six sisters.
Luevano was 37 years old. She was a single mother of six.
On January 16, 2022, Luevano called her oldest daughter, Marilisa Salgado, telling Salgado that Luevano's boyfriend, Jorge Quintero Lara, had stabbed Luevano in the neck. They called Phoenix police and tried to track her phone, but she was nowhere to be found.
The family, friends, and strangers desperately searched for Luevano for five days across the Valley, in areas the couple would often frequent when going off-roading.
On Thursday, January 20th, the 37-year-old’s body was found 100 miles west of the Valley. Records said she had been stabbed multiple times.
The day Luevano went missing, Lara went to a hospital with a “sharp force injury to his stomach,” court records said. He told investigators he had been robbed and denied having had an altercation with his girlfriend. He was arrested on unrelated forgery charges.
After Luevano’s body was found, Lara was questioned. During a post-Miranda interview, he admitted to stabbing Luevano in the neck while driving in Phoenix, court documents said.
Lara was indicted by a grand jury on three felony charges — first-degree murder, kidnapping, and concealing a dead body — charges that could land him behind bars for up to the rest of his life without the opportunity to get out.
But this month, the family tells 12News prosecutors offered Lara a plea deal with lesser charges — second-degree murder and kidnapping, where he could face up to 37 years in prison with a chance of parole.
“I find it so unfair,” said Salgado, Irene Luevano’s oldest daughter. “Especially because they have enough evidence to give him what he deserves.”
Fight for justice
The family of Irene Luevano wants Lara to go to trial. They told 12News they were surprised the Maricopa County Attorney’s Offices offered the suspect a plea deal.
“We just want justice,” said Irene Luevano’s mother, Arele Luevano. “They [need] to give him a lot of years in prison.”
For the family, a sense of justice comes with Lara sentenced to the rest of his life behind bars, “for him not to see the light of freedom like he did to my sister,” said Victoria Luevano.
“He does not deserve a plea deal, what he deserves is to rot in prison,” the sister added.
During a weekly press briefing, 12News journalist Adriana Loya asked County Attorney Rachel Mitchell about the plea deal and the family’s opposition to Lara to face fewer charges than what the grand jury indicted him for. She said the case remained open and couldn’t comment on the matter.
“This is a tragic case,” Mitchell added. “The facts of it are horrific and I understand the family, but there are some legal realities that we have to deal with.”
According to the family, Lara has until Dec. 1 to accept or decline the plea deal. There is also the possibility prosecutors can pull the offer.
“I want the judge, the attorneys, the prosecutors to hear our plea,” Victoria Luevano said. “What we are asking for is justice, life in prison for him not to come out and see daylight.”
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