Dad Who Locked Away Kids’ Bodies for 6 Years is Punished

A Colorado father just learned his. punishment for one of the most. horrifying child abuse cases in recent. memory. His two young children locked. away for six years, their bodies. discovered in a storage unit and an. abandoned car. He took a plea deal, testified against his girlfriend, and. now he's been sentenced to decades in. prison. But is this the right result? We're going to break down exactly what. happened in this case, and we are going. to be speaking with a Colorado criminal. defense attorney to understand it. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law and.

Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. [Music]. Probably seen unfortunately a lot of. tragic cases in the news, but I will. tell you this one out of Colorado is. almost impossible to wrap your head. around. Why? A father, his girlfriend, two young children, and a horrifying. secret that was hidden away for six. years. And what police eventually. uncovered inside of a storage unit and. an abandoned car, it's almost too.

disturbing to believe. And now the. father at the center of this all has. finally learned his punishment. And we. will wonder and we will ask whether it. is the correct punishment. I'm going to. tell you about this in just a bit, but. first we got to take a step back. If you. haven't heard of this PBLO, Colorado. case before, I think you really need to. understand how bad it really is. Okay. Two children, Yennia and Jesus Jr., vanished in 2018. For years, no one.

asked questions. There were no missing. person reports. There were no police. searches. But in 2024, crews that were. cleaning out after an eviction stumbled. on something so strange in a locked. container. And it was that discovery. that unraveled the terrible truth of. what happened to these young kids and. how the people who were supposed to. protect them instead hid their deaths in. plain sight. Takes us back to January. 2024 when Pueblo police were called to a.

storage unit. Family members of Jesus. Dominguez and his girlfriend Karina. Minharez were helping clear out their. belongings after the couple were. evicted. But inside that unit they. noticed something very strange. A heavy. metal container filled with concrete. Very very sus. So clearly they were. suspicious and they contacted. authorities. And when police opened it, they made a chilling discovery. Inside.

was the decomposed body of Dominguez's. three-year-old daughter Yennia encased. in hardened concrete. Detectives. immediately knew this wasn't an. accident. This was concealment. It was. that discovery that set off a larger. investigation. And two weeks later, officers find this car that was once. owned by Dominguez sitting in a local. scrapyard. When they opened that trunk. inside of a suitcase wrapped in garbage. bags, comforters, even covered with cat.

litter and baby powder, you know, to. mask the smell, they found the remains. of his 5-year-old son, Jesus Dominguez. Jr. When I say this is terrible and. awful, I'm not overstating it. It is. awful. But now we have to talk about. what happens. So, the autopsy on Yenia. listed her manner of death as homicidal. violence. The problem is due to. decomposition that prevented examiners. from actually pinpointing a cause of.

death. What was clear is that both. children had been dead since 2018, 6. years before their bodies were finally. uncovered. So, how did this happen? According to court testimony, both. Dominguez and Minharees were heavy drug. users at the time. Dominguez testified. during Minharees's trial that she. struggled with the children, especially. over potty training. He said that she. could be cruel, even making them sit. inside plastic bags during car rides. because she didn't want urine on her.

seats. March 14th, 2018, Dominguez's. 30th birthday. 3-year-old Yennia. reportedly soiled herself in the car. So, Dominguez said she was forced to sit. on the floor inside a trash bag and at. some point that is when she stopped. breathing. Now, Dominguez and Minharees. apparently considered taking her to a. hospital but decided against it. Why? Because the girl had visible signs of. prior abuse, including bite marks and. injuries to her hand that Dominguez said.

Minharez had inflicted months earlier. Weeks later, April 2018, the abuse. continued. Dominguez testified that. Minares sprayed his son, Jesus Jr., at a. self-service car wash with such force. that the pressure caused cuts near the. boy's groin. Soon after Jesus Jr. too. stopped breathing while sitting in the. back seat surrounded by plastic bags and. blankets. Instead of seeking help, Dominguez and Minarz drove to a field.

near Pueblo Dam and stuffed the boy's. body into a suitcase, again wrapping it. in layers of trash bags. So for years, these children remained hidden. Yenia in. the storage unit, Jesus Jr. in the trunk. of that abandoned car. Meanwhile, Dominguez kept collecting public. assistance for the kids as if they were. alive. It wasn't until that eviction in. 2024, 6 years later, that the truth. finally came out. Minar's mother was the.

one who tipped off police about the. suspicious container in the storage. unit. and detectives soon pieced. everything together. Both Dominguez. Minarz, they were arrested. The couple. faced multiple charges. Two counts of. first-degree murder of a victim under 12. by someone in a position of trust along. with charges of abuse of a corpse. Dominguez also faced a theft charge for. continuing to collect those benefits. And at trial, prosecutors painted.

Manarez as this driving force behind the. abuse and killings. Now, Dominguez took. the stand, testified in detail about how. the children died, how their bodies were. hidden. And here's the point. Prosecutors said that his testimony was. critical to convicting Minarz. She was. found guilty on all counts last month, sentenced to two consecutive life terms. without the possibility of parole. But. what happened with Dominguez, right? Well, in July, as part of his plea deal,

he entered a guilty plea not to. first-degree murder, but to seconddegree. murder. In exchange, prosecutors they. dropped some of the charges, and they. secured his testimony against Minarez. PBlo County District Attorney Kayla. Bouves called it a tough decision, but. said it was the only way to make sure. both defendants were held accountable. Is that true? Now, with my job, I'm. constantly on the road, which can. sometimes leave me feeling a little. homesick. You know, I just was in Crime.

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happen. And now, after all of these. years of silence and concealment, Jesus. Dominguez has learned his fate. And we. are going to get to that in just a. minute. But to break down what we've. heard so far, I want to bring on. Colorado criminal defense attorney Jeff. Wolf. Jeff, thanks so much. Thanks so. much for taking the time. Um, appreciate. it. It's good to see you. Why would. prosecutors agree to a plea deal for for. Dominguez, right, given what we're. talking about here, given the severity. of this situation? >> Well, my understanding, I actually know.

the defense attorney for the mom in the. case. And my understanding is the reason. they did it is they gave him a. sweetheart deal because they didn't have. much of a case. And so, they needed to. get information from somebody and he was. the one who was willing to talk. And so. he got a deal because he was willing to. talk even though they weren't able to. confirm much of what he told them. And. they got a continuence outside of speedy. trial on the mom's trial to try and. confirm some of the stuff he told them. >> That's why they gave him this deal. because he was the only willing to talk. >> They didn't have that much. I mean, you.

have two dead children in circumstances. where it seems, you know, Dominguez and. Minharez are the only ones responsible. No. >> Well, they didn't have any firsthand. accounts. They had circumstances where. they were the ones in charge of the. kids, but nobody really knew what caused. it. They didn't have a firsthand account. to present to a jury. And so, they. wanted somebody to present that. And so, they went to both sides and made this. offer. And he was the one that jumped. >> Let me ask you a question. With these. kids found in these very specific.

conditions, it wouldn't have been. enough. You don't think they would have. had enough to convince these the a jury. that both of them are responsible for. killing these kids? If it would have. been enough, Jesse, why would they have. given him this deal? This was something. where they could have. >> Yeah. >> Right. They could have gone to trial. with both of them as codefendants. sitting in the same courtroom. But. instead, what they chose to do was cut a. deal with this guy that gave him, like. you said, a sweetheart deal. 32 years he. ends up serving versus life. And I guess.

look, I I think the issue is right since. the autopsies. couldn't determine the exact causes of. death, that is a challenge in proving, let's say, you know, first-degree. murder, right? >> Exactly. Exactly. Maybe they don't get. the conviction that they wanted to get a. life sentence out of somebody here. So, they made a deal with the devil. It's. exactly what they did. >> How much weight does a jury usually give. to testimony from a codefendant who took. a plea bargain? I think in every time. we've seen it and anytime we've covered. a trial here on Law and Crime, it's, you.

know, you have something to gain by. testifying against my client. What were. you offered? What were you promised? What are you looking at? Um, you know, right? I mean, how much does a jury. weigh that? >> Well, I think it depends on the type of. case, right? When you're talking about. the father of the children who is taking. some culpability and being involved in. what happened and in the cover up of it, it to a jury that seems more believable. And obviously it does given the verdict. that they came back with here in this. case. And so it's not, I don't think,

apples to apples to compare every single. case and say, you know, just because. somebody is a codefendant in a case, they're going to sell out and lie to a. jury because they're given a good deal. I think a jury is going to look at the. circumstances and when they see a father. come in and say, "I am very sorry for. what happened to my children and my. conscience has gotten the better of me.". And that is going to give the the. testimony a little bit more credence to. a jury like it seems to have done here. Whether it should have, who knows?

>> Just to be clear, could Dominguez have. faced the death penalty or life and. without parole if he hadn't agreed to. cooperate. >> There is no death penalty in the state. of Colorado. That has been abolished. So. no, he could not have faced the death. penalty. But lop or life without parole, yes, he could have faced that without. cooperation. >> Yeah. By the way, what role do charges. like abuse of a corpse or theft of. government benefits? What what part do. those play in strengthening the. prosecution's overall case?

>> I don't know that it strengthens the. overall case when it comes to, you know, you're looking at the death of small. children. I think that it makes it. harder to, you know, walk somebody out. of a courtroom completely, you know, innocent and just say, "Hey, you're. going home." It makes it harder as a. defense attorney to think you're just. going to completely skate on a case, but. it I don't think it involves, you know, are you going to walk on the main. charge. I don't think that it affects. that part of it. >> And to be clear, you you had mentioned.

this on September 13th, a judge. sentenced uh Jesus Dominguez to 32 years. in state prison. Couple of questions. here. Any chance that Dominguez gets out. before that? And if not, this is not. picnic. 32 years in state prison, but. it's different than life in prison, right? So, how should we be thinking. about whether or not justice was served. with 32 years? >> Well, justice definitely was not served. with 32 years based on my intimate. knowledge of the case. But I will tell.

you that 32 years is definitely not. going to be 32 years. Colorado recently. had a ballot measure up for the voters. that made certain crimes eligible for. more time than they used to be. We used. to early parole on a case like this at. about 60 to 75%. Now you're looking at. serving more like 75 to 80% of the. sentence, but he'll definitely be out. before 32 years with good behavior. assumed. >> Yeah. What what is what are those. factors? What do we mean by good. behavior or you know uh I don't know.

repenting for what happened? What what. are the uh what are the factors that get. someone out? >> It's a bit of a moving target. It's run. by time computation at the department of. corrections in Colorado and they will. constantly say that there is no set. amount of things you can do to make sure. that your number goes down or up. They'll say that and they say you can't. rely on your attorney's advice. You. can't rely on the words of the court of. how much time you're actually going to. serve. But the general factors that go. into it are number one, the actual term.

good behavior. Do you get in trouble. while you're in there? Do you get in. fights? Are you, you know, caught with. contraband? things like that, actual. behavior while you're in custody. Do you. take part in educational programs? Do. you, you know, if you don't have a. diploma, do you get your GED while. you're in there? Things like that. Are. you a trustee status? Are you, you know, doing your job while you're in there and. getting good marks from, you know, your. CO and your warden and things like that. while you're in there? What is the message you think this. sentence sends to the public about the.

roles people play about plea deals in. severe child abuse cases? What do you. think the message is? I think the message is get to be the one. that talks to the DA's office first. Tell your lawyer if you're willing to. flip because you'll get the better deal. And I think that, you know, it sends a. very, very dangerous message about when. you have two people caring for children. that they're not going to be held to the. same level of culpability if the DA's.

office believes that they need help from. one of them at least. And I think that. the DA's office down in PBLO County sent. a very, very dangerous message to the. people of state of Colorado when they. made this deal. >> I I appreciate you saying that. Um, do. you think that they would have gotten a. conviction against Minares without him? >> Hard to know. I think that the the. defense in the case would say that it. would have been a lot harder. I think. that there were things that that he said. that couldn't be confirmed by the DA's.

office. I think that the case was tried. outside of speedy trial as a result of. working with him, which is a, you know, guaranteed appeal that's coming in her. case. Who knows what the result of that. is going to be with the Colorado Supreme. Court and some of the rulings they hand. down. But. it's hard to know what the effect of his. actual testimony was. It's a very. emotional case. It's a very gruesome. case. But absolutely having somebody who. can say this is what happened. I.

witnessed it. Made their case. significantly stronger. >> I hate to ask this, but I think it's. important to as we wrap this up. Um, I. look at a case like this and I say there. are details that are now going to stick. with me that it's going to be very hard. to forget that are very specific. And. this is somebody I cover a lot of child. abuse cases, uh, child death cases here. on sidebar. In your experience, maybe in. Colorado, maybe looking elsewhere, do do. you see a lot of egregious cases of.

child death and concealment like this? Well, I mean, we had the Watts case up. in northern Colorado, the other side of. the state, that was just as bad as this. one. Uh, you know, it's it's not. something that is unfortunately as rare. as I think people would like it to be. I. think there are probably cases we've. never heard of because there are. probably unfortunately. victims that are in places that haven't. been discovered and family members who.

haven't made phone calls like the. grandmother in this case did. So, I. think it's I don't want to say ultra. common. I'm not one of those people that. uses scare tactics on people, but I. think it happens. >> Jeff Wolf, thanks for coming on. Appreciate it. >> My pleasure. >> That is all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. You can follow me on. Instagram or X. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll.

speak to you next time. [Music].