Two men sentenced to prison in killing of San Diego woman who was tortured, suffocated

Two men were sentenced Monday to prison terms for their roles in the killing of a 30-year-old woman who was tortured and suffocated before her body was dumped in northern San Diego County in 2017.

Jonnie Isaguirre, 27, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison and Pablo Valadez, 40, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

Both men admitted guilt May 4 in San Diego Superior Court in the death of Alexandria Nicole Smith. Isaguirre pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and Valadez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Both men were tried earlier this year, but the jury hung. They pleaded guilty before a second trial could begin.

Smith's body was discovered Oct. 12, 2017, in a wooded area near the Pala Casino Spa Resort. She had been beaten and her fingers cut off. The county Medical Examiner's Office later determined she died from asphyxiation.

Smith left behind a then-10-year-old daughter.

"It's an absolutely senseless killing," Judge Jeffrey Fraser said before he sentenced Valadez and Isaguirre.

Fraser said Smith was killed "for no reason at all," except that the defendants were high on methamphetamine.

Prosecutors said Smith was held against her will by the defendants in a home in National City after she heard their plan to sell drugs to bail out a friend from jail. Smith at one point texted an acquaintance — a gang member.

Afraid of retaliation, the defendants decided to kill her to cover up what they had done, according to prosecutors.

Isaguirre and Valadez were among three other defendants who were charged in the case. Crystal Melendez, 38, pleaded guilty July 1, 2019, to second-degree murder and kidnapping. She faces a possible 15 or 20 years to life in prison when she is sentenced July 12.

Maria Pereira, 31, pleaded guilty Dec. 3, 2018, to robbery. On March 30, 2022, she was sentenced to five years in prison.

Isaguirre, Valadez and co-defendant Amber Leal were tried earlier this year. On March 1, after a six-week trial, Leal, 42, was convicted of first-degree murder and special-circumstance allegations of robbery and torture. She is expected to be sentenced July 11 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The jury split — 11-1 and 7-5, respectively — in favor of finding Isaguirre and Valadez guilty.

Before Fraser handed down the sentences Monday, Deputy District Attorney Dan Owens read a statement on behalf of Smith's mother, Nicole Smith, who was sitting in the courtroom. She lived with her daughter and granddaughter for several years, including at the time of the killing.

"Alex was a funny and sensitive girl who loved her daughter and always thought of ways to make life fun for everyone around her," the mother said. "She gave me joy."

Her daughter's death, she said, left her with "a deep loneliness that is impossible to explain."

Her granddaughter now lives in Northern California with her father and an aunt, and Smith hardly sees her, she said. "I hope someday her life is good and fair and filled with joy," she said.

The losses in Smith's life brought on a spate of health issues. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and schizoaffective disorder, and had multiple stokes, she said. She now lives in an assisted living facility.

Both Isaguirre and Valadez apologized to her for her daughter's death.

"There's no excuse for my actions," Valadez said during the sentencing hearing. "All I can do is beg one day she finds it in her heart to forgive me."

"My parents raised me better than that, but now this is something I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life," Isaguirre said.

After the hearing, Valadez's attorney, Sloan Ostbye, said her client "did not actually kill" Smith.

"He was at the wrong place at the wrong time," the defense attorney said. "He got high and got pulled into something he shouldn't have. He made poor choices, but he didn't kill anyone."

Isaguirre's attorney declined to comment.

Smith and the defendants had gathered at Leal's home in National City on Oct. 2, 2017, to discuss how to bail out a friend who had been arrested earlier in the day.

Prosecutors said Smith went with Isaguirre; she did not know the others. As the group devised a plan to sell drugs to raise money for their friend's bail, Smith stayed silent and kept to herself in the house, which made Leal uneasy, according to prosecutors.

Smith eventually tried to leave, but Leal became upset and shoved Smith into a bedroom. Throughout the night, Leal beat Smith repeatedly, prosecutors said.

Smith tried to escape, fight her way out and pleaded with her captors to let her go.

At one point the group learned Smith had sent the text message to a gang member, saying she was being held against her will in National City. Although Smith was not a gang member, her possible ties to gangs made the group fear possible retaliation for harming her, prosecutors said.

The group invited over Valadez, an alleged gang member, who interrogated Smith about her possible connections to gangs. Prosecutors said Smith told Valadez she was dating a Mexican Mafia gang member.

Valadez then told the group they "were going to have to kill her," prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Leal tried to administer a "hotshot" — a lethal combination of water and nicotine injected into her bloodstream — in an attempt to kill Smith while Valadez held her down.

The attempt failed. At noon the next day, the group coaxed Smith into her car by promising they were going to drive her somewhere to let her go, prosecutors said. They drove her to a remote part of Julian.

Leal then duct-taped Smith's hands, taped a plastic bag over her head and held her down as she screamed, kicked and fought, prosecutors said. Leal asked Isaguirre to help "finish her," and they suffocated her until Smith stopped moving, prosecutors said.

Smith's body was loaded into the trunk of her car, and the group drove away. Isaguirre was dropped off at a gas station and Leal was dropped off to buy a phone at a Metro PCS store. Valadez and Melendez carried on, eventually stopping on a dirt road near the Pala Casino Spa Resort, where Smith's body was dumped.

Before the group left, Melendez grabbed a pair of pruning shears from the trunk of the car. Smith had scratched Melendez, who feared DNA would be under Smith's fingernails, so Melendez cut off Smith's fingers.

Valadez and Melendez then took off and stopped at a 7-Eleven to buy WD-40. They sprayed the car down in an attempt to get rid of their fingerprints. Then they threw the car keys, the WD-40 can and gloves into a dumpster, prosecutors said.

Smith was reported missing in the aftermath.

Her cellphone was later found in a dumpster behind a 7-Eleven. Her car was found parked in Temecula a week after her disappearance.