EDINBURG — “You took the love of my life,” Juliana Balderas said in Spanish Tuesday afternoon as she choked back tears.
“This isn’t justice because not even 50 years … won’t be enough to take away this pain.”
Balderas confronted her 6-year-old daughter’s killer on the eve of 45-year-old Marco Antonio Reyes Chairez’s trial for the death of Yvone Adele Mireles, who was shot and killed on Feb. 23, 2021.
Chairez, who was to go to trial Tuesday, pleaded guilty instead and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Before the court could bring in the jury to begin his trial, Chairez had a change of heart and decided to plead guilty for the murder of Mireles, who was shot in the head as she watched television with her younger brother.
During her victim impact statement, Balderas said they found her daughter in a pool of her own blood next to her brother who she referred to as “Panchito” in an interview with The Monitor in September.
“Do you feel like a man taking the life of a 6-year-old girl?” Julio Cesar Balderas, the child’s grandfather, asked Chairez in Spanish during his victim impact statement.
“Why would you show up in the front of the house and flash us your gun? … You knew very well there were kids in that house.”
Julio stated that Chairez had known there were children living in the residence because they had been driving by the home for several days.
“You took the love of my life,” Juliana Balderas said in Spanish Tuesday afternoon as she choked back tears. “This isn’t justice because not even 50 years … won’t be enough to take away this pain.”
He added that despite not knowing who he is, that if he had an issue with his family, he should’ve taken it to the streets and not their homes.
“Not only did you kill the girl but you killed us all,” Julio said.
Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra had previously stated in a news conference that around 12 shots were fired at the home which is located in the 2400 block of Valencia Avenue in Mission.
Sheriff’s deputies had responded to the residence at about 5:07 p.m. after repeated rounds were fired at the home.
Guerra also stated that fateful evening that Mireles died instantly.
Baldera’s was at work when she received the call that her daughter had been shot in the head.
She previously stated that her manager drove her back home but by the time she had arrived, Mireles was already dead.
“Do you think this is justice?” Balderas asked Chairez Tuesday. “Not even God will forgive you.”
As Chairez was being taken away, a family member of Balderas shot out of his seat and lunged at Chairez but the sheriff’s deputies held him back.
When asked what Balderas would tell mothers in similar situations she offered words of encouragement.
“Do not give up,” Balderas said.
Chairez had been charged with capital murder of a person under 10 years old, but instead pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder.
His co-defendants, Daniel Guzman Flores, Juan Ramon Garcia Olaguez and William Garcia, have all pleaded not guilty to a charge of capital murder of a person under 10 years old.
Olaguez and Flores remain jailed on $375,000 and $575,000 in bonds, respectively.
Garcia posted bail on $125,000 in bonds on Aug. 31, 2021.
