ELIZABETH HOLLOWAY - 9 yo (2011)/ Convicted: Mother; Crystal Cardenas - Mountain View/ San Diego CA

Cops: Girl Killed by "Someone" Not "Something"

An autopsy revealed that Elizabeth Holloway died from blunt force trauma

Updated 2:23 PM PST, Thu, Jan 20, 2011



Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a nine-year-old girl in Mountain View.

Officers received a report of a non-breathing child at a home in the 300 block of Milbrae Street on
Monday. The family told police they noticed Elizabeth Holloway, 9, did
not appear to be breathing and had “sort of a fixed look in her eyes.”

"She had her daughter in her arms and she was telling me to come here. When I went out there she laid
her daughter in the doorway and her daughter was just passed out,” said
Lajahnique Webster.

Webster called her mother who rushed to their aid.

“I was just giving her CPR and she just wasn't waking up," said neighbor Sagirah Means. "Just like
cold and turning blue and purple. She was just lifeless and I just
wanted to save her."

Officers and paramedics arrived on scene.

"I was screaming, I was crying, they kept telling me to move back," said Means.

Elizabeth was transported to Rady Children’s Hospital, where she died at 11:56 p.m.

“As is customary in child
death cases, detectives from the department's Child Abuse Unit conducted
a preliminary investigation,” said Lt. Rooney.

An autopsy revealed that the girl died from blunt force trauma, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

“The case has been classified as a homicide,” said Lt. Rooney. "We haven't drawn any
conclusions as to who inflicted this force."

Elizabeth’s 25-year-old mother and her mother’s 27-year-old boyfriend were home when officers
were called to the scene. It’s not yet clear when the girl received the
injuries that led to her death.

"At this point it appears to be from a someone, not a something," said Lt. Rooney.

The girl’s siblings, a 1-year-old and 7-year-old, were taken by Child Protective Services.

George Long, a Community Service Officer at Emerson/Bandini Elementary School says Elizabeth
started out the school year at Emerson/Bandini Elementary but has
attended two other schools since then.

"Elia, as we knew her by, was just a bubbling, outgoing, very beautiful, charismatic student. She
would meet me at the gate every morning and always had a smile, always
glad to be here," said Long.

He called the news “gut wrenching.”

"Home is supposed to be the safest place that these kids are,” Long said. “It breaks my heart that
this happens and I do hope for her sake and her family's sake that
whoever is responsible for this is brought to justice and quickly.”
No arrests have been made.

Source: Cops: Girl Killed by "Someone" Not "Something" | NBC San Diego

Death of 9-year-old San Diego girl remains unsolved


SAN DIEGO — The 9-year-old with the curly gold-and-brown hair always smiled when she got to school.
Elizabeth Aaliyah Holloway had friends at school and was a good student.
Her home life was not so stable, family members and San Diego homicide investigators say.
Through much of her short life, Elizabeth bounced from house to house. Soon after her birth she lived with her father, Willie B. Holloway Jr. in the Los Angeles area. Sometimes she lived with other family members.
In September 2009, Elizabeth joined her mother, Crystal Cardenas, 25, and sister, now 7, in southeastern San Diego. It was there, in the family’s apartment, that Elizabeth suffered a hard blow to her body that ended her life on Jan. 17.
Homicide investigators believe it was a deliberate, concentrated blow.
“Obviously, it’s an awful ending for her,” homicide Lt. Kevin Rooney said. “She was a beautiful little girl, so much ahead of her, and now she’s gone.”
Police are still trying to find the evidence that will allow them to make an arrest. No suspects have been named.
On Friday, more than 120 mourners gathered at El Camino Memorial in Mountain View to say goodbye to the child who lay in an open white casket at the front of the chapel. Many burst into sobs and clung to each other as they filed past Elizabeth, who was dressed in a frilly white dress, gloves and tiara.
“Our hearts are such a jumble. It’s hard to see God’s hand,” said the Rev. John Rinaldi, who officiated. “Elizabeth is home. Of this, I have no doubt.”
After the service, friends, school employees and family followed in procession to Mount Hope Cemetery, where Elizabeth was buried.
“Its very sad that a little girl had to go through this and have her life cut short,” said Ana Holguin, 26, of San Diego, one of Cardenas’ cousins.
Holguin’s sister, Veronica Rios, 24, of Oxnard, said Elizabeth’s large extended family is angry, sad and hurting over her death.
“It’s hard,” Rios said. “Every day I’m hoping they make an arrest.”

read more>
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/28/death-9-year-old-girl-remains-unsolved/#

Mom Arrested in Child's Death


The mother of a nine-year-old girl who died earlier this month has been arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter, according to police.

Elizabeth Holloway’s mother, Crystal Cardenas, 25, was arrested as she walked in the 1600 block of Canyon Road in Spring Valley at 10.25 a.m. Monday.

"I knew she did it,"said Veronica Rios, Cardenas' cousin. "Her stories were not matching up, she showed no emotion."

Rios told NBCSanDiego in a phone interview that Cardenas originally told family members Holloway had stomach problems.

"She was complaining of stomach pains all day,"Rios said Cardenas told family members. "She said she took her (Holloway) to the doctor and the doctor prescribed her pepto bismal, and that's when the light went off in my head because doctors don't prescribe that."

Rios said she immediately confronted Cardenas. "I told her on Facebook, you'd better admit it, but she just ignored my messages."

After family members got the autopsy report, suspicions grew even more intense.

"The autopsy report said Elizabeth was either punched or kicked in the stomach,"Rios said.



read more>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41356056

Prosecutor: Elizabeth's Mom Abused Her for Months


A mother accused of murdering her 9-year-old daughter abused the girl for months, according to prosecutors.

“Including being strangled, punched, kicked, burned and thrown to the ground,” said prosecutor Lindsey Krause.

Crystal Cardenas, 25, pleaded not guilty to 9-year-old Elizabeth Holloway’s murder in a San Diego courtroom on Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Cardenas had been abusing Elizabeth for the last 17 months -- ever since she moved in with her. Holloway previously lived with her father in the Los Angeles area.

“A few days before her death, the defendant had punched and kicked Elizabeth in the abdomen area, which would later be determined by the Medical Examiner’s Office to have caused a bruised pancreas,” said Krause.

The prosecutor said Elizabeth suffered a slow and painful death over the next day or so as a result of her injuries.

“Elizabeth vomited a few times over these days. She described not being able to feel her legs and she told her 7-year-old half sister that she thought she was going to die,” said Krause.



read more>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41398935

Girl says mother kicked sister in stomach the day she died

Updated: Sep 07, 2011 7:55 PM CDT
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - An 8-year-old girl testified Wednesday that her mother kicked her older sister in the stomach shortly before the older girl died.

Crystal Cardenas, 26, is charged with murder and felony child abuse in the death of 9-year-old Elizabeth Holloway on Jan. 17.

The victim's sister, Amari, testified in a preliminary hearing that Cardenas kicked Elizabeth while she was on the bedroom floor. She testified that a person she referred to as her father, Lorenzo Castillo, was telling Cardenas to stop.

Prosecutor Lindsey Krause said there is no family relationship between Amari and Castillo, but that she views him as a father figure.

Elizabeth was declared dead at a hospital about 90 minutes later. An autopsy show she died of blunt-force injuries.

Castillo, the victim's 28-year-old uncle, is charged with child abuse causing a death.

Amari testified that after her mother kicked her sister, Cardenas put her hand over Elizabeth's mouth as she threw up.

"There was lot of times she threw up," Amari testified. "I said (to Elizabeth), you're probably gonna die."

When asked about the kicking by defense attorney Megan Marcotte, Amari said "I saw it with my own eyes."

Amari testified that Cardenas burned Elizabeth with an iron in a separate incident after Elizabeth accidentally burned her younger sister with the same iron.

Amari said her mother told her to lie to social workers about what happened.

A 13-year-old neighbor girl testified that she saw Cardenas slap Elizabeth in the face and hit her with a closed fist in the arm as they walked home from school.

Krause said Elizabeth came to live with her mother about 17 months before she died.

A few days before her death, Cardenas punched the girl in her abdomen, bruising her pancreas and part of her intestines, Krause said, adding that the 9-year-old suffered a slow and painful death.

The family moved into the Milbrae Street apartment just south of Mount Hope Cemetery shortly before the girl's death, police said.



Cardenas' other children -- including a 1 1/2-year-old son -- were taken by Child Protective Services, authorities said.

Cardenas faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. Her husband could get up to 10 years.

At the end of the preliminary hearing, Judge Kerry Wells will decide if enough evidence was presented for the defendants to stand trial.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/15409861/girl-says-mother-kicked-sister-in-stomach-the-day-she-died

Four new felony counts, including torture, were filed Monday against a
San Diego woman accused of abusing her 9-year-old daughter over a
17-month period, resulting in the girl's death.

Crystal Cardenas, 26, was previously charged with murder in
connection with the Jan. 17, 2011, death of Elizabeth Holloway. The new
charges also include three counts of felony child abuse causing great
bodily injury, Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Krause said.At an earlier hearing, the prosecutor said Holloway was
choked, punched, kicked, burned and thrown to the ground after moving in
with her mother in the Mountain View neighborhood, just south of the
Mt. Hope Cemetery.A few days before the girl died, Cardenas
punched her daughter in the abdomen, which severed her intestine and
bruised her pancreas, Krause alleged. The girl vomited and lost feeling
in her lower legs and told her younger half-sister she felt like she was
going to die, the prosecutor said.San Diego police said officers
and medics found Elizabeth unconscious in her residence following an
emergency call, and she died at a hospital about 90 minutes later.According
to Krause, the defendant faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted
of murder, and additional time if found guilty of the other charges. Her
trial, which had been scheduled for next month, was pushed back to Nov.
27 at the San Diego County Courthouse.

http://www.10news.com/news/31258034/detail.html

Such a cute little angel. How could you hit her.
25 to life, outrageous. It should be death for a death.

Our state has been bad at the death penality and I am generally
against it. This is the exception.

William

Mother Sentenced in Daughter's Murder
Elizabeth Holloway, 9, once told her sister she thought she was going to die

By R. Stickney
Tuesday, Sep 18, 2012
Updated 3:12 PM PDT

A woman who admitted to punching her 9-year-old daughter in the stomach and causing the child's death, was sentenced to prison Tuesday.

Crystal Cardenas entered a guilty plea last month to second-degree murder in the death of her daughter Elizabeth Holloway.

In January 2011, Holloway was rushed to the hospital after she was found not breathing and with a fixed look in her eyes at a Mountain View home.

As the investigation unfolded, prosecutors shared a painful story of the abuse suffered by Holloway over 17 months after the child moved from the custody of her father in Los Angeles to live with her mother in San Diego.

At various times, Holloway was strangled, punched, kicked, burned and thrown to the ground prosecutors said.

In her final days, Holloway suffered a bruised pancreas from a punch in the stomach the medical examiner confirmed. She then suffered a slow and painful death over the next day according to investigators.

“Elizabeth vomited a few times over these days. She described not being able to feel her legs and she told her 7-year-old half-sister that she thought she was going to die,” prosecutor Lindsey Krause said at a pre-trial hearing in February 2011.

In court Tuesday, Cardenas was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Crystal-Cardenas-Sentence-Daughter-Murder--170219566.html#ixzz26rk6gs3U

willcarney wrote:Such a cute little angel. How could you hit her.
25 to life, outrageous. It should be death for a death.

Our state has been bad at the death penality and I am generally
against it. This is the exception.

William

Well it's even worse than they originally predicted. This monster only got 15 years to life according to the above article. I hope she has to serve her entire life in prison but it's possible she won't. What a travesty.

According to the article, it states: "In court Tuesday, Cardenas was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison."