NEWS RELEASE FROM:
Jeffrey F. Rosen, District Attorney CONTACT PERSON:
Jeffrey F. Rosen, District Attorney
(408) 299-3099 For release on March 18, 2011 SAMUEL CORONA PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDER AND TORTURE OF SIX YEAR-OLD BOY, WILL RECEIVE LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced today that Samuel Corona pleaded guilty to one count of murder and admitted the special circumstance allegation of torture, for the brutal slaying of his girlfriend’s six-year old son, Oscar, Jr. Corona also admitted two prior robbery convictions as “strikes.” Corona will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. Corona, 37, began dating Kathryn Jiminez in November, 2006. Ms. Jiminez lived with her six-year-old son, Oscar, Jr. Within weeks, Corona was sharing a residence with Ms. Jiminez and Oscar Jr., and from the outset verbally and physically abused the child, as he had done with previous step-children. The abuse culminated in Corona viciously punching and stomping Oscar, Jr., to death, in front of Ms. Jiminez, on February 18, 2007. Following the murder, Corona and Ms. Jiminez transported Oscar, Jr.’s body to Phoenix, Arizona and buried him in an abandoned apartment complex. In permitting Corona to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, instead of facing the death penalty, District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who was the original prosecutor on the case, carefully considered all the evidence collected by the San Jose Police Department, the relative culpability of, and punishment imposed on, Ms. Jiminez, and input from family members.
Corona is scheduled to be sentenced June 10, 2011 at 2:00 before the Honorable Judge Philip Pennypacker, Department 30, Hall of Justice, 190 W. Hedding Street, San Jose. ###
Jeffrey F. Rosen, District Attorney CONTACT PERSON:
Jeffrey F. Rosen, District Attorney
(408) 299-3099 For release on March 18, 2011 SAMUEL CORONA PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDER AND TORTURE OF SIX YEAR-OLD BOY, WILL RECEIVE LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced today that Samuel Corona pleaded guilty to one count of murder and admitted the special circumstance allegation of torture, for the brutal slaying of his girlfriend’s six-year old son, Oscar, Jr. Corona also admitted two prior robbery convictions as “strikes.” Corona will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. Corona, 37, began dating Kathryn Jiminez in November, 2006. Ms. Jiminez lived with her six-year-old son, Oscar, Jr. Within weeks, Corona was sharing a residence with Ms. Jiminez and Oscar Jr., and from the outset verbally and physically abused the child, as he had done with previous step-children. The abuse culminated in Corona viciously punching and stomping Oscar, Jr., to death, in front of Ms. Jiminez, on February 18, 2007. Following the murder, Corona and Ms. Jiminez transported Oscar, Jr.’s body to Phoenix, Arizona and buried him in an abandoned apartment complex. In permitting Corona to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, instead of facing the death penalty, District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who was the original prosecutor on the case, carefully considered all the evidence collected by the San Jose Police Department, the relative culpability of, and punishment imposed on, Ms. Jiminez, and input from family members.
Corona is scheduled to be sentenced June 10, 2011 at 2:00 before the Honorable Judge Philip Pennypacker, Department 30, Hall of Justice, 190 W. Hedding Street, San Jose. ###