Child killer
Jury deliberates late into the night before returning guilty verdict

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Late Friday night a jury found Cleo Juan, 34, guilty of child abuse resulting in the death of a child under the age of 12 years.

The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated from 4:30 p.m. until 9:45 p.m. before announcing their verdict in the death of 18-month-old Colby Shirley on March 14, 2006.

After announcing that sentencing will occur in about 30 days, District Court Judge Grant Foutz ordered that Juan be taken into custody, considering she is facing up to 30 years in state prison.

Juan had remained quiet through most of the trial, talking only occasionally to her defense attorneys. She remained quiet as Foutz polled the jury, but after Foutz went into the jury room to talk briefly with members of the jury, she broke down in tears and was soon sobbing.

Juan retreated briefly into the corridor and called family members on her cell phone, but she could still be heard by the few spectators in the courtroom, sobbing as she told them of the verdict.

There were times during the deliberation when it appeared there might not be a verdict Friday. At one point, about 7:30 p.m., the jury sent out a question about whether a hung jury was an option.

Foutz decided not to answer the question at that time and just let the jury continue its deliberations.

In closing arguments, Mark Fine, one of Juan’s defense attorneys, continued to argue that there was reasonable doubt in the case, pointing to questions over just when young Colby’s head injuries occurred.

The defense argued that Colby was showing signs of abnormal behavior when Juan returned to her trailer at about 9:30 a.m. that day and that there was evidence the damage to the toddler was done by her husband, Jeff Juan.

Fine sharply criticized Gallup police for not following through and looking at Jeff Juan as a suspect in this case.

But Jeff Juan, after giving a brief statement to police saying he was not at the trailer that morning, refused to say anything else to police.

In their closing arguments, prosecutors continued to use statements made by Cleo Juan that day in which she admitted to doing “the most unimaginable thing you could to a child, an innocent child who trusts you.”

Fine argued that Cleo Juan made that statement while she was in shock and believing that she caused Colby’s injuries when she “yanked off his PJs real hard, causing him to fall back and hit his head.”

Assistant District Attorney Bernadine Martin, in her closing statement, asked the jury if yanking someone’s PJs real hard fits the definition of doing something unimaginable.

What also may have hurt Juan’s case was statements she made to the police about not taking her medicine regularly over the past 2 1/2 weeks and admitting that when she didn’t take her medicine she could become “highly agitated.”