A Pueblo father and his girlfriend will serve lengthy prison sentences for the deaths of his two children, whose remains were found encased in concrete in a storage facility and inside a suitcase in an abandoned vehicle, according to court records.
Corena Rose Minjarez, 38, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abuse of a corpse on Aug. 27 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The second suspect in the case, 37-year-old Jesus "Sus" Dominguez, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 32 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections on Sept. 12, records show. Prosecutors dismissed two charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, all felonies, and one count of misdemeanor theft of public assistance as part of the plea agreement.
Pueblo police began investigating the case in January 2024 after someone called 911 about a suspicious metal container filled with hardened concrete in a storage unit in the 600 block of West Sixth Street.
DNA tests later confirmed that human remains found in the concrete and in the trunk of Minjarez's car, which was abandoned in a scrap yard, were those of Yesenia and Jesus Dominguez Jr., who were last seen in 2018 when they were 3 and 5 years old.
According to the Pueblo Chieftan, Dominguez testified at Minjarez's trial about his children's deaths in exchange for the plea deal.
In a statement to The Denver Post, Dominguez's attorney, Becky Briggs, said he believed Minjarez when she told him the children died accidentally.
"The 32-year sentence he accepted, as well as his testimony against Corena at her trial, reflect his desire to take responsibility for leaving his children alone with Corena when he knew she was an abusive person. He also profoundly regrets the aftermath of their passing and the choices he made," Briggs said.