Nevaeh Gallegos Murder trial update: New Trial Date Set!
Angel Montoya appears in court in Denver for new trial date!
September 1, 2011-Angel Montoya appeared in a Denver court today for a status hearing. Montoya, 26, is charged with 1st degree felony murder, for the murder of Nevaeh Gallegos, 3, in 2007. Montoya appeared wearing a gray jail jump suit. He sat with his court appointed public defenders. Montoya, waived his right to a speedy trial. Montoya has a legal right to have a trial date set within 90 days of today. When the presiding, Judge Robbins, asked Montoya if he was in agreement to waive his right to a speedy trial, in a barely audible voice, Montoya said,"Yes Your Honor".
There was a mistrial declared on August 25th, 2011, when Montoya's former girlfriend, Miriam Gallegos, said on the stand, that Montoya was a registered sex offender. The defense much earlier had won a legal battle, when their motion to not allow Montoya's criminal record to be brought up during trial was granted. Miriam Gallegos, the mother of 3-year-old Nevaeh, plead guilty in January of 2011, to her part in her daughter's murder, and was sentenced to 12 years of prison. She must be released from prison in 2023, she will be 36 years old in 2023.
A new trial date was set today for April 9, 2012. The Gallegos family namely, the child's grandmother, Janet Gallegos, was devastated at today's news. "AnotherĀ 8 months, I can't believe it. Our family would really like this nightmare to be over." Janet Gallegos begged several city officials in 2007 to remove Nevaeh from the home of her daughter Miriam. She alerted authorities that the child was being molested by her daughter's boyfriend Angel Montoya, a convicted child molester. Montoya was on parole when he was living with Miriam and Nevaeh. As a registered sex offender and a parolee, legally he was not allowed to be living with a child. Upon Janet's requests, the Denver Department of Children's Services visited Nevaeh's home. Miriam, told social workers that her mother was lying, and Angel was not living in the home.
Nevaeh Gallegos was admitted to Denver General Hospital in July of 2007, with various injuries. The injury was discovered when her grandmother, Janet Gallegos was babysitting the child. The police were called to the hospital. After an investigation by the Department of Children's Services, found no cause to remove the child from the home. Three weeks before the murder of Nevaeh Gallegos, Janet Gallegos again, plead to authorities to remove the child from the home, because she feared for her grandchild's life. Exactly three weeks later, Nevaeh's battered and bruised body was found in a ravine in a duffel bag. Janet Gallegos arrived at the Denver County Morgue to identify her granddaughter's body. Gallegos, a nurse, told the police, " I don't know who this child is, she is beaten so badly, I can't say if it's Nevaeh, I recognize the bracelet on her wrist, I gave it to her, a month ago".