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Children's Mother Addresses the Court before Judge Charles E. Wilson rendered his sentence  

Good afternoon Judge Wilson:

Thank you for allowing me to be a voice for the deceased victim, Roberto Rivera, the father of my two children. Nothing and no one on the face of this earth can bring the right justice to Roberto and his family because no one can bring Roberto back to life. A precious life that is a miracle from God is not to be robbed away by another human being, like this defendant did to Roberto. 

Since the killing of Roberto on May 4th of this year, my family has been shaken to the core. We are scared, confused and feel so much pain. The shock of hearing the news that Roberto is dead impacted us emotionally, physically and financially. Life is not the same anymore and can never be as normal and pleasant for my children without their father alive. 

The killer being sentenced in court today, not just took one life, but took a part of a life from several other people that knew and loved Roberto. The killer impacted an entire city of Los Altos that lived free of murder for 26 years. Until yesterday, I didn’t know there was another man working with Roberto at the scene of the crime and he witnessed the violent act. What a nightmare he must be going through? The owner of the house that Roberto was working at and where he was killed was at home with his children. That is scary. No one deserves to have to live in fear. Life is too short and to be cut violently or be exposed to such senseless violence. It’s so wrong and unacceptable how this defendant gave himself the permission to violate so many innocent people and even recruit his younger brother, a juvenile, to help him carry out the murder. This incident and the careful planning of is beyond horrific.

I’m making this statement when I’m nervous and wish I didn’t have to be involved in this process, but I feel an obligation to stand up for Roberto’s life because it means a lot and specifically for my two children that have been deprived of having a father, one of the closest person who they trusted and depended on to grow older with and share life’s happy and sad moments with. Roberto was an active, loving and supportive father to our children, even though he and I were separated, but he always did right by his children (emotionally and financially.) My children and I are devastated since Roberto’s life was wrongly and without any remorse taken by the defendant. Even after this man killed Roberto and days later, he disparaged his innocent victim………it’s just unbelievable and so disturbing when he never even met Roberto.

I am making a statement for court today, in addition to talking to the Probation Officer to make sure and in hopes that the heaviest punishment is given this defendant, so he never gets an opportunity to hurt another human being. This man in front of you in court is very dangerous and disturbed. The only way to insure innocent people’s safety is to sentence him to life in prison. 

Thank you Judge Wilson. I also want to thank everyone who supported me to understand what happened, why it happened and how to deal with it one step at a time. For everyone who was involved in bringing justice to Roberto and his family, I want to say “Thank You.” We don’t wish this pain on anyone and hope there are ways to be found, to prevent such senseless crimes from happening in the first place. We don’t wish this pain on anyone.