DA’s office seeks death penalty

Guidotti said prosecutors chose to seek the death penalty for Contreras’ multiple felony charges — among them murder, oral copulation of a child under 10 years old, child abuse and child molestation with great bodily injury — after spending months on the decision. 

“Obviously we take these decisions very seriously, and it is an unusual case when we seek death in this county,” she said, adding that the acts Contreras is believed to have committed on a toddler were particularly heinous. “It’s hard to imagine a more vicious crime than that.”

Guidotti said the death penalty can only be sought if special circumstances are alleged with a defendant’s charges, noting that because allegations Contreras committed lewd and lascivious acts and oral copulation on the child are attached to his murder charge, the death penalty was an option in his case. Though the county has three other pending cases involving the murder of a young child or infant, Contreras’ is the only case for which the death penalty is being sought at this time, said Guidotti, who confirmed special circumstances have not been alleged in those cases.

‘Very selective’

Guidotti could recall at least three other cases in the 1990s in which the death sentence was sought for particularly violent murders, but acknowledged the public’s aversion to the sentence in recent years. She said it’s become increasingly important for prosecutors to choose only those cases that truly merit the death penalty and for which the jury is likely to deliver the sentence when they pursue the punishment.

“The public is less and less in favor of it,” she said. “And we are very selective. We’ve always been very selective.”

Contreras has pleaded not guilty to all charges and his defense attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.

The toddler, Evelyn Castillo, was found unconscious and unresponsive in an apartment on the 400 block of Madison Avenue in the Central Neighborhood of Redwood City around 2:30 p.m. Aug. 6, 2015. Contreras had been dating the mother for just two months when he convinced the woman to leave him alone with the child for the first time, according to prosecutors.

Over the course of several hours, Contreras allegedly repeatedly sexually molested the girl, including by oral copulation. When the child wouldn’t stop crying, Contreras fatally beat her, according to prosecutors. He contacted his mother and initially claimed the child fell off the changing table, but an autopsy established his story was false, according to prosecutors.

Other similar crimes

Another man, 26-year-old Marco Antonio Alvarado-Cisneros, is also being charged with murdering his girlfriend’s 18-month-old son in unincorporated Redwood City in August 2014.

Alvarado-Cisneros was caring for the baby named Dante Nava at their apartment while the mother went to work. That night, the man called 911 claiming the baby may have had a seizure and fallen off the bed. An autopsy revealed numerous injuries including several human, adult bite marks, according to prosecutors.

Alvarado-Cisneros continued to live with the girlfriend after the baby’s death and even had another child with her. About a year later, the mother reported to police numerous domestic violence attacks, kidnapping and robbery of her by Alvarado-Cisneros.

He was arrested and a subsequent investigation led to his arrest for murder of the baby. He is charged with murder, kidnapping, battery and willful infliction of corporal punishment, according to prosecutors.

Alvarado-Cisneros is facing life in prison with possibility of parole, said Guidotti.

Among the other cases involving the murder of a young child is a 2011 gang-related shooting in which a 3-month-old child was left dead in the backseat of his parents’ car on East Palo Alto’s Wisteria Street that was connected to 24-year-old Fabian Zaragoza, a juvenile when the shooting occurred. The 2016 murder of a 2-year-old child believed to be beaten to death by 26-year-old East Palo Alto resident Adair Zevallos, the boyfriend of the child’s mother, could also be counted among the tragic cases that does not meet the state’s criteria for consideration of the death penalty, said Guidotti.

One of Contreras’ two defense attorneys, Richard Keyes, withdrew from his case Monday so no jury trial date was set, said Guidotti.

Contreras is next expected to appear in court April 12 for appearance of his new defense attorney, who is slated to act as co-counsel alongside attorney James Thompson and to be appointed from the county’s private defender program, according to Guidotti.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 102

Note to readers: This article has been changed to remove a statement saying a resolution on Contreras' case did not look likely at his Jan. 8 pretrial conference after prosecutors confirmed there was no likelihood of a resolution because they were seeking the death penalty and spent months on the decision.