PHOENIX — Trini Lozano’s family waited nearly a decade to see his killer sentenced to death.
But at the last moment – during jury deliberations – the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office withdrew its intent to seek the death penalty.
Why? That’s a secret.
“The death penalty was the thing we wanted most because we thought it was going to give us justice,” said Lozano’s sister. “It’s fighting for as long as we did and not getting what we wanted out of it is the problem.”
The case was filled with issues and delays, including allegations of judicial misconduct and a problematic vote held by prosecutors. One of the defendant’s former defense attorneys went to work as a prosecutor and then voted to continue seeking the death penalty against him.
This video report is the fifth chapter in Seeking Death, an investigative series by ABC15 and ProPublica, which reviewed nearly 350 death penalty cases from 2004 to 2023.
