Gutierrez guilty in death of Battle Ground 3-year-old

After months of growing exasperation, an “innocent event apparently broke the dam of frustration” that led Ricardo Gutierrez Jr. to kill his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son, a judge said Thursday.

Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis found Gutierrez, 41, guilty of first-degree murder in the beating death of Jose “Pepe” Castillo-Cisneros, with an aggravating factor that Pepe was a particularly vulnerable victim. The finding allows for a longer-than-normal sentence if the judge sees fit.

Gutierrez was also found guilty of second-degree assault for injuries he inflicted on Pepe’s mother, Yadira Cisneros, who desperately tried to stop the attack May 23, 2016, at their Battle Ground home. Gutierrez was Cisneros’ live-in boyfriend but not Pepe’s biological father.

He is facing 23 years to life in prison. Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik said the state will ask for an exceptionally long sentence.

In August, Gutierrez formally waived his right to a jury trial and opted for Lewis to instead decide his fate.

Lewis reached his decision after hearing nearly 3½ days of testimony. He deliberated for about 15 minutes before handing down the guilty verdicts.

Gutierrez will be sentenced Feb. 13. The hearing is expected to take half a day. Gutierrez’s defense attorney, Edward Leroy Dunkerly, plans to call a mental health expert to testify on his client’s behalf.

Alleged motive

During Golik’s closing argument Thursday morning, he said, “There could be no question in anyone’s mind that (Gutierrez’s) intention was to kill Pepe.” He argued the motive was clear.

Gutierrez and Cisneros had a troubling relationship. Gutierrez was “fixated on the idea that she wasn’t faithful” and even had her under surveillance. “These are not normal behaviors,” Golik said.

Gutierrez was also upset with Pepe, whose developmental delays made him nonverbal. He often communicated by screaming and crying.

Golik argued that Gutierrez knew Pepe was developmentally delayed, and his outbursts stemmed from those issues. Gutierrez was repeatedly told by people that he needed to be patient with the boy; but he didn’t care, Golik said.

He formed the intent to kill Pepe that night, because he didn’t like the boy, Golik said, and knew killing him would inflict the most possible pain on Pepe’s mother.

Golik also asserted that Pepe was a particularly vulnerable victim, not only because of his young age, but because of his developmental delay. He was unable to plead with Gutierrez to stop assaulting him.

Dunkerly argued that, at best, this was a case of second-degree murder of a particularly vulnerable victim. He said Gutierrez was tired from working long hours, frustrated by Pepe’s behavior and under financial pressure — he was contemplating filing for bankruptcy.

He said Gutierrez was “at the end of his rope” and “snapped.”

Although Dunkerly didn’t contest the fact that Gutierrez killed Pepe, he argued that prosecutors had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the slaying was planned.

However, Lewis argued that Gutierrez did not lose control when he snapped; he made the decision that “he was going to be done with Pepe by killing him.”

It was clear from testimony and statements Gutierrez reportedly made during the beating that “he was going to keep the boy quiet; he was sick of him,” Lewis cited. Gutierrez recognized he was going to kill Pepe and threatened to kill Cisneros, too, if she didn’t stop intervening.

Lewis said that although Gutierrez’s decision was formed out of anger, it was “unfathomable.”

Additionally, Lewis found that Pepe was a particularly vulnerable victim, not because of his developmental delay, but because he was a 3-year-old child.