In April of 2013, Progresso resident Norma Pena stabbed two Belize City women because she says they went to a village dance with her common law husband. One of the women, Veronica Gonzalez died from her injuries, while her friend Wendy Aragon survived.
Today, after more than 4 years on remand, Norma Pena pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and to attempted murder.
Pena claims that Gonzalez and Aragon provoked her by socializing with her common-law husband. She explained that after the dance, the two women followed her home and a fight erupted where she stabbed both of them. She expressed remorse for her action.
Justice Herbert Lord accepted the guilty pleas yesterday morning in the Orange Walk Supreme Court session. After hearing a mitigation plea, Lord handed down a 12 year sentence for manslaughter with a deduction of 4 years for pleading guilty and saving the court time in a trial. That left her with 8 years, but time served cut the 12 year sentence to only 3 years and 7 months remaining.
For the guilty plea for the attempted murder upon Aragon, Pena was sentence to 5 years - and, again, most of that sentence, fell into the time already served, meaning that, all told, Pena only has less than four years left to serve.
In mitigation, personnel from the Prison said Pena was an exemplary inmate.
