A fight broke out in the middle of the courtroom on Tuesday after the defendant pleaded guilty to murdering her partner of 15 years in front of her family.
“I pray to God that one day, I don’t know when, he will take this anger away from me so that I can see him or think differently than him. But I do not know when [je pourrai y arriver]», confided Anna Machado, the victim’s mother, after leaving the courtroom, according to images obtained by ABC7 Chicago.
19-year-old Frank DeLeon Jr. pleaded guilty at the opening of his murder trial on Tuesday, sparking a fight before the judge between the victim’s family and that of the defendant, according to American media.
The latter would have agreed on Tuesday to spend 45 years behind bars without the possibility of release 22.5 years ago for shooting his partner Diamond Alvarez 22 times in January 2022.
Frank Deleon pleaded guilty today to the murder of his girlfriend Diamond Alvarez. As Diamond’s mother stood up to leave the stand after giving a victim impact statement, she walked toward Deleon and was restrained by the officers. Diamond’s uncle ran from the gallery towards Deleon. pic.twitter.com/aaG3Nh4OOj
— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) October 17, 2023
The mother of the young 15-year-old victim then took the stand to testify in court about the impact of the crime, calling the defendant a monster and accusing the young man’s mother, who was present in the room, of raising him away.
However, as she sat back down, she stormed towards the defendant before being intercepted by security and in turn pushed by the murderer’s mother. At the same time, the victim’s uncle is said to have pounced on the defendant before he was taken out of the room by security.
The fight only lasted a few minutes before calm returned to the square.
“It was wrong of me, it was wrong of us because we are not monsters. But I have so much hate because I want my daughter back and what he did is terrible, […] And [de le voir] “I laughed my head off, it was very wrong and I’m sorry,” Anna Machado added, according to the New York Post.
The defendant is expected to receive his official verdict on Thursday.