A Utah woman, aged 43, along with her son, faced sentencing for their involvement in the harrowing kidnapping and murder of a woman who had been assisting law enforcement in a case concerning their family. The victim was targeted due to her cooperation.

Carolina Marquez received a sentence ranging from two to 20 years for second-degree manslaughter and an additional six years to life for first-degree aggravated kidnapping. These sentences are to be served consecutively. Meanwhile, her son, 27-year-old Fernando Marquez, was given a suspended sentence after admitting to charges of obstructing justice.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office reported that Carolina Marquez masterminded the abduction of 25-year-old Conzuelo “Nicole” Solorio-Romero on February 6, 2021. She enlisted two accomplices, Orlando Tobar and Jorge Medina-Reyes, who forcibly took the victim from her apartment at gunpoint. The men were instructed by Marquez to take a drive to the Wyoming border and back. Upon their return to the Salt Lake City vicinity, they were directed to Marquez’s residence in West Valley City.

Once there, Tobar coerced Solorio-Romero into the house at knifepoint. The group interrogated her about the information she provided to the police, which had led to Fernando Marquez’s arrest. After extracting this information, Medina-Reyes shot her in the head, followed by a second shot by Tobar.

Subsequently, the group convened at Carolina Marquez’s taco restaurant to strategize the disposal of Solorio-Romero’s body. They contacted an individual known as “The Mechanic,” later revealed to be Cristian Morales, who assisted in the disposal efforts. The body was wrapped in plastic and transported by Tobar and Morales to a field in Tooele County, where they discarded the remains.

Meanwhile, Carolina Marquez stayed behind at her home to clean up the crime scene. According to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate KSL, photos showed Carolina Marquez laughing and calmly cleaning up the scene “as though someone had spilled a glass of milk.”

Carolina Marquez admitted her “reckless actions” led to Solorio-Romero’s death but claimed she did not believe the victim was going to be killed. Prosecutors reportedly dubbed her remorse as “not genuine.”

Solorio-Romero’s sister Jessica Romero-McDonald read a victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing.

“Nicole wasn’t just a random person you grew to hate; she was my sister, she was a mother, and she was my mother’s daughter,” Romero-McDonald said. “And although you took her from us, you will never take who she truly was from us… I will follow your prison journey, and the moment you have a parole hearing, I will be there, reminding you and the system why you should not be out in our community with our children, our sisters, our mothers and our society. You don’t deserve any forgiveness from us, as we don’t forgive you.”

As Law&Crime previously reported, Tobar, 34, and Medina-Reyes, 26, pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated kidnapping. Both men were sentenced to two terms of 15 years to life in prison. Two others pleaded to misdemeanor desecration of a body charges.

“We mourn the loss of Nicole and sympathize with the pain that her family and loved ones have endured and will likely continue to face the rest of their lives. We hope that the conclusion of this case will help our community feel safer now that a judge has determined [Carolina Marquez] will spend years behind bars for her heinous crimes,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement.