Iowa man gets 3 life sentences for 'horrific' killings of immigrant mom and her 2 young kids

DES MOINES, Iowa (TCD) -- A 34-year-old man will spend his life in prison for killing a mother and her two young children.

According to the Des Moines Register, Marvin Esquivel Lopez was handed three life sentences for the deaths of 29-year-old Rosibeth Flores-Rodriguez, Grecia Daniela Alvarado-Flores, 11, and Ever Jose Mejia-Flores, 5. In court, Polk County prosecutor Kevin Hathaway called the killings "horrific" and added, "To go into that basement and end the lives of two innocent children, who had never done anything wrong, cutting their lives so short, it’s unthinkable, Your Honor."

The three victims were found dead in July 2019. The Des Moines Register reports Flores-Rodriguez and her kids immigrated from Honduras not long before they were killed. They reportedly lived with Esquivel Lopez and his family. Esquivel Lopez was reportedly known to federal officials as Marvin Escobar-Orellana.

According to WHO-TV, all three were shot twice in the head. Flores-Rodriguez’s body was reportedly found on the main level of the house, while Ever and Grecia were located in the basement.

Esquivel Lopez’s first trial ended in a mistrial because the jury could not reach a consensus on the murder counts regarding the children, WHO reports.

In his second trial, the Polk County Prosecutor’s Office announced a jury convicted Esquivel Lopez on Dec. 20, 2021.

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