RACINE, Wis. — Zachary Zdroik and Veronica Castro say justice for their mother is in jeopardy following a private meeting with prosecutors. They learned last week that a new murder trial is likely off the table.
"You have a family that has been suffering for over 26 years, and now we're supposed to be OK with this? It makes no sense," Zdroik said.
WATCH: Family of murder victim pushes back after prosecutors signal plea deal is the only option
According to the criminal complaint, Veronica and Zachary's mother, Juanita, witnessed a double homicide in Milwaukee in 2000. She was then taken to rural Racine County, where she was shot and killed.
Court records show the case went cold for more than a decade until witnesses came forward to Milwaukee detectives claiming the defendant, Miguel Cruz, pulled the trigger and said: "This is what happens to snitches."
"To know how she died and how she was in fear and just everything, and that when we got the details that was something that just really, it just broke me," Castro said.
Cruz's conviction was vacated last year after a successful appeal. Court records show the jury never learned in 2021 about issues with how DNA evidence was presented, or questions about the credibility of two detectives who investigated the case — based on their alleged conduct in other unrelated cases.
"Now all of a sudden my mom's case gets thrown out? And now, mind you, there was no proof of anything corrupt in my mom's case at all, but because of their corrupt history with other cases, 'well there's a possibility,' but there's no hard proof of it," Zdroik said.
Zachary and Veronica say the proposed plea deal would come with a 10-year sentence, placing Cruz at the scene when Juanita was murdered. With time served, Zachary says prosecutors told him Cruz could be released in a few months.
"They basically told us they don't feel confident they can win with the evidence they have, and this is one of those scenarios that we have to take what we can get, those words exactly," Zdroik said.
"We're told now that we're gonna lose, so we have to kind of just take the plea and move forward with it. It's not OK," Castro said.
The prosecutor in Cruz's case declined to comment. The Racine County District Attorney's Office did not confirm the specific terms of the proposed agreement. District Attorney Patricia Hanson said she was unavailable when reached by email on Tuesday.
Veronica and Zachary are calling on prosecutors to end plea negotiations and take the homicide case back to trial.
"At this point we want the county and the state to do the right thing, and that is hear the case, hear the proof, hear the evidence, go through everything, the eyewitnesses, go over it; there's a corrupt history with the detectives, look into it because right now they're taking the easy way out," Zdroik said.
Cruz's attorney says she will not comment until the case concludes. Cruz is due back in court on Sept. 8.
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