Rios sentenced to life for 2004 slaying

Jesse Valencia's family said they have found closure with the sentences.

By Eva Dou

Published Dec. 9, 2008

Special Prosecutor Morley Swingle said he will seek consecutive sentences for former Columbia police Officer Steven Rios on the sentencing date next month.

Rios was convicted Friday of armed criminal action and the second-degree murder of former MU student Jesse Valencia. A Clay County jury recommended a life sentence for the second-degree murder charge and 23 years, Valencia's age at the time of his death, for the armed criminal action charge.

Judge Frank Conley will decide whether Rios serves his two sentences consecutively or concurrently Jan. 16.

Swingle said he will recommend consecutive sentences, which will keep Rios in prison for 30 to 50 years.

With a second-degree murder verdict, Rios could be eligible for parole after serving 85 percent of the life sentence, which is 30 years in Missouri. He could be paroled from the armed criminal action charge in as little as three years.

Defense attorney Gillis Leonard said he hopes to offer a compelling case for leniency at the sentencing. Leonard hasn't decided whether to appeal the case yet, his office manager Marilyn Leonard said on Monday.

Family and friends of Jesse Valencia said they felt closure on Friday.

Surrounded by Jesse's college friends, Jesse's mother Linda Valencia cried quietly to herself as the verdict was read.

"I would rather have the death penalty, but I do think there was justice done for Jesse," she said.

Rios was originally convicted in 2005 of the first-degree murder of Jesse Valencia, with whom he was having an affair at the time, when he was found dead with his throat slit near his East Campus apartment in June 2004.

Their relationship began after Rios issued Jesse Valencia a ticket for interfering with an arrest. Rios wanted to keep the affair a secret, but Jesse Valencia was considering informing the police department of the relationship, according to court testimony by Jesse Valencia's friend Joan Sheridan in 2005.

In 2007, a Missouri appellate court ruled that Sheridan's testimony was hearsay and should never have been admitted. The Missouri Western District Court of Appeals granted Rios a retrial.

At last week's retrial, Rios' decision not to testify and the omission of the hearsay evidence likely tipped the jury to a second-degree murder conviction, Swingle said.

"The evidence that was kept out this time was so important to show motive," Swingle said.

Without this testimony, it was difficult to prove the cool reflection necessary for a first-degree murder conviction, he said.

The strongest evidence for the prosecution remained the match of Rios' DNA to the DNA found under Jesse Valencia's fingernails and on his chest. Swingle called it a victory for the Columbia Police Department and said this was the first time the department has been able to match trace evidence to the DNA of a killer.

Jesse Valencia's friends at the trial appeared relieved as the verdict was announced.

His friend Kenneth McKenzie, who was sitting beside Linda Valencia, said he was pleased with the verdict.

"He was just a great guy, very passionate about life," McKenzie said, of Jesse Valencia.

Following the trial, Linda Valencia told reporters she was thankful for Swingle and the help of the Columbia Police Department. She said she felt compassion for Rios' family, but if Rios ever came up for parole, she would be there to fight it.

Jesse Valencia is buried on the family farm in Perryville, Ky.

After returning home Saturday night, Linda Valencia said she laid a white rose on her son's grave.

"I talked to Jesse out by the grave as I always do," she said. "I told him that we had justice for him again, and that I missed him and loved him and that I was very proud of him."

She said she is excited for the birth of her first grandchild, whom her daughter Marie is expecting on Jesse Valencia's birthday, Feb. 22.

"They had wanted to name him Jesse, but I said there will only ever be one Jesse James Valencia," she said. "So they're naming him Christopher Hayden. Hayden was one of Jesse's favorite names."