Mother, son sentenced for roles in 2021 kidnapping, murder of Kearns woman

SALT LAKE CITY — The final two people charged in a 2021 murder of a Kearns woman were sentenced to prison on Monday.

On Feb. 6, 2021, Conzuelo “Nicole” Solorio-Romero was forced into a vehicle at gunpoint and taken to a West Valley residence at knifepoint. While she was in the house, prosecutors say she was shot twice, and then her body was transported to Tooele County and left on the side of a road.

Carolina Marquez, 43, of Salt Lake City, and her son Fernando Marquez, 27, of Kearns, were each charged in 3rd District Court with murder, obstruction of justice and aggravated kidnapping, first-degree felonies. Carolina Marquez was also charged with desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony.

Carolina Marquez directed two others to kidnap Solorio-Romero as she was “clearly angry” at the woman over her potentially doing drugs with her daughter, owing her money or giving police information that led to the arrest of her other son, according to prosecutors.

After Solorio-Romero was killed, Fernando Marquez then helped his mom clean up and cover up the murder, according to charges. They were arrested after a warrant was served at Tacos Mi Caramelo, 1808 W. 3500 South, the business that Carolina Marquez owns.

In a police interview, Carolina Marquez said the shooting occurred at her West Valley residence while she was present. All of the involved individuals then went to her restaurant, before she returned home to clean up the scene, according to charges.

Carolina Marquez pleaded guilty on Sept. 25 to aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, as part of a plea deal. In exchange, charges of obstruction and desecration of a body were dismissed.

In her plea statement, she said she asked the others to “take Nicole out of my daughter,” which resulted in them kidnapping, terrorizing and shooting her. “My reckless actions led to her death,” she said in the plea.

During a sentencing hearing Monday, defense attorney Jamshid Askar said Carolina Marquez is remorseful for what she did and she “didn’t know her actions would spark something that ended up the way this did.” He explained she was married at 13, widowed while still young and scored high on the adverse childhood experience scale.

Prosecutor Morgan Vedejs said the state views the charges she pleaded guilty to as appropriate for her role in the crime. But, she argued, evidence of that night shows Carolina Marquez as “unfazed” that someone was killed, including pictures of her laughing after the crime.

Vedejs said photographic evidence shows Marquez walked around the crime scene she had to clean up calmly, “as though someone had spilled a glass of milk,” and not like someone had just been shot to death.

The remorse Carolina Marquez showed Monday is “not genuine,” Vedejs said, as she showed no remorse or sympathy during the crime “for a girl she claimed to have loved.”

“Nicole wasn’t just a random person you grew to hate; she was my sister. She was a mother,” said a statement from Nicole’s sister Jessica Romero-McDonald at the sentencing. “Years from now, you truly will never be free, as you will feel the guilt deep inside no matter how much you try to play tough.”

Judge Patrick Corum said the Marquezes caused “absolute horror … intentionally and deliberately on that day” through the planning and attempted cover-up of the crime.

He said the facts and circumstances “cry out for consecutive sentences.” Carolina Marquez was sentenced Monday to two to 20 years in prison for manslaughter and a consecutive term of six years to life in prison for the aggravated kidnapping. Corum said the parole board can decide what to do with the 1,700 days she has already served in custody.

Just before his mom’s sentencing, Fernando Marquez pleaded guilty Monday to obstruction of justice, a first-degree felony, for helping to conceal and destroy evidence by cleaning up the crime scene and making false statements to police.

Fernando Marquez was sentenced to five years to life in prison for his “substantial role” in the cover-up, the judge said.

As part of his plea deal, the murder and kidnapping charges were dismissed and his prison term was suspended so he can be deported in the next 90 days. He also promised to testify if necessary for any future hearings of codefendants in the case. A warrant will be issued, so if he ever returns to the U.S., he will immediately be arrested and sent to prison, the judge said. He was also given credit for the 1,700 days he has already served in jail.

A statement from Romero-McDonald was also read at his sentencing, saying, “Our society isn’t safe with people like you wandering around.”

“You showed you had little respect for any human life. You might not get the sentence you deserve, but I know this will follow you for the rest of your life,” her statement said.

Six people total were charged in 2021 in connection with the killing, and all cases have now been resolved as of Monday.

Orlando Esiesa Tobar, 34, from Honduras, and Jorge Rafael Medina-Reyes, 26, were charged with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and obstructing justice, all first-degree felonies. The two were convicted of kidnapping Solorio-Romero at the direction of Carolina Marquez. Investigators say they accused Solorio-Romero of being a snitch before they both shot her.

Tobar and Medina-Reyes were sentenced last year to two terms of 15 years to life in prison for murder and aggravated kidnapping, both first-degree felonies. Tobar, however, received a harsher sentence for his terms to be served consecutively for “dancing around reenacting the shooting” in pictures taken after the murder.

Cristian Noe Morales-Gonzales, 31, address unknown, and Ivan Jesus Acosta, 32, of Salt Lake City, were charged with abuse or desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony and obstructing justice, a first-degree felony. Morales assisted in disposing of the body and Acosta helped clean up the crime scene, according to court documents.

Both pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice and were sentenced to a year in jail that was suspended in favor of two years of probation.