Family of Diana Alvarez speaks on Jorge Guerrero sentencing

Notorious child killer Jorge Guerrero-Torres was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of 9-year-old Diana Alvarez, and now the victim’s family is sharing their pain over the sentence.

The sentencing has left the family of Alvarez heartbroken and disappointed after a plea deal was reached on Wednesday, which took the death penalty off the table.

Alvarez’s body was discovered in 2020 after she was reported missing four years prior. Throughout that ordeal, the family was hopeful for her return.

Guerrero had already been serving a 40-year sentence for having explicit images of Alvarez on his cell phone; however, he had murder and kidnapping charges that needed to be addressed.

State Attorney Amira Fox was in attendance during the plea deal hearing, stating that the murder charges became more difficult to prove after Judge Margaret Steinbeck’s ruling on a motion to suppress portions of his interrogation was passed.

Steinbeck said Guerrero-Torres did not understand his Miranda rights because of a language barrier when he made some statements during his interrogation.

Alvarez’s family did not want a plea, but they understood that no sentence would bring Diana home.

“My daughter won’t be able to tell me., ‘I love you, Mommy.’ My daughter won’t tell me, ‘Mom, I just got back home.’ My daughter won’t give me a grandson or a granddaughter and tell me, ‘Mom, I’m OK,'” said Rita Hernandez, Diana’s mother.

Hernandez addressed her statements directly to Guerrero after he had agreed to the plea deal.

“According to everyone here, this person does not deserve to live. He doesn’t deserve to live for what he did to my daughter,” said Hernandez.

During a press conference after the sentencing, Fox mentioned that her office had spent eight years putting together a case against Guerrero.

“Today’s plea and sentence come after critical statements made by the defendant about his interactions with the victim were no longer able to be used in the trial in any manner,” said Fox. “This means we could no longer go forward on the third charge of lewd or lascivious molestation and that the murder charge became more difficult to prove.”

Guerrero will serve his life sentence on top of his 40-year federal sentence for possession and creation of child pornography.