Two families sobbed in a St. Paul courtroom Thursday night when Michael C. Sontoya was convicted of first-degree murder while committing a sexual assault and second-degree murder while committing a felony assault in the Sept. 30 death of Gabriela Romo.
Ramsey County District Judge Marybeth Dorn set sentencing for 9:30 a.m. today. Sontoya, 32, of St. Paul, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
There's only one person who knows exactly what transpired the night of Sept. 29-30 when Romo went home with Sontoya, a man she had known since second grade, County Attorney Susan Gaertner told the jury in her closing argument.
Within hours of going to his home, the 31-year-old St. Paul mother of four had bled to death from horrific injuries that Sontoya inflicted during a sexual assault.
Jurors heard testimony from firefighter/paramedics who responded to Sontoya's 911 call at 6:45 a.m. Sept. 30. All said it appeared that Romo had been dead for some time. Still, they tried to revive her, because Sontoya insinuated she had been alive shortly before they arrived.
Jurors saw photos taken by Ramsey County medical examiner Dr. Michael McGee during Romo's autopsy. One photo showed portions of a 14-inch internal tear that damaged her spleen, liver and diaphragm, and another showed lacerations on her private parts. The injuries caused her to bleed to death, McGee said.
Defense attorney Anthony Torres contended that police simply turned their investigation over to McGee. He said, "What Dr. McGee says is not fact, it's an opinion."
The jury obviously thought otherwise.
