Reyna Flores-Rosales Charged for the Abuse and Eventual Death of Her 6 Year-old Child

On March 7, 2019 the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Reyna Flores-Rosales for the abuse and eventual death of her 6 year-old child Norlin Cruz.

 

Today, a Third District Court judge sentenced Ms. Flores-Rosales to five years to life in state prison for first-degree felony reckless child abuse homicide, one to 15 years for each of the two counts of second-degree felony intentional child abuse and zero to five years for third-degree felony reckless aggravated child abuse. All sentences are to run consecutively.

 

“Children are vulnerable and rely upon the adults around them for safety and protection. This defendant abused her child with intentional, heinous, and repeated violence. The level of callous, humiliating, and gratuitous violence inflicted here demanded the most severe punishment. No one who was a part of this prosecution was left unmoved by what was revealed through the investigation and prosecution,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “Today’s sentence is what we as a community can do for the tragic loss of Norlin’s life. No amount of time will be long enough for the crime this defendant committed and the manner in which she did it. My office will send a letter to the Board of Pardons and Parole requesting Ms. Flores-Rosales be kept in prison as long as possible.

 

“Norlin was a child that only had his foster family left to mourn him when he died from the wounds inflicted by his own mother. Our condolences go out to those who loved this young child. This is one of the worst cases of child abuse that I have seen in nearly 28 years as a prosecutor. We applaud the judge who delivered the consecutive sentences through tear-filled eyes and said he would personally write the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole saying Ms. Flores-Rosales should never get out of prison,” said District Attorney Gill. “We would like thank our lead prosecutors Melanie Serassio, Richard Pehrson, Andres Gonzalez, and their support staff for the work they put into this case over the last four years. We would also like to thank Sandy Police and specifically Detective Cori Biggs who went back over 20 times for follow-up requested from our prosecutors.”