Jul 27, 2007 10:59 am US/Mountain
Man Convicted Of Killing Woman, Chased With Gun
Gilberto Cruz Convicted In Jefferson County
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) ―
A man who prosecutors said chased a screaming, terrified woman down the street with a shotgun and killed her as she pounded on her neighbor's door, pleading for help, was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder.
Gilberto Cruz, 27, an illegal immigrant, was also convicted of possession of a dangerous weapon in the death of Amanda Jean Duran, 22, Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Duran had just called off their relationship Oct. 4 when Cruz, who arrived at the house with a shotgun, tried firing at Duran but the shell fell out. Duran ran out of the house, stumbled, fell and got up with Cruz right behind her. He tried firing his weapon but the shell fell out, again.
He caught up with her and fired into her head outside her neighbor's house.
"The last moments of Amanda Duran's life were filled with terror, the kind of terror that comes from knowing that death was just moments away," prosecutor Natalie Judson said this week during closing arguments.
During a videotaped interrogation, which was played for jurors, Duran said he didn't know how to use the shotgun.
"If I knew how to use the shotgun, she wouldn't have died in the street, she would have been dead in the house," according to his testimony in Spanish, which was translated by an interpreter.
Cruz faces life in prison without the possibility of parole at sentencing Aug. 9.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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