{"id":61159,"date":"2015-03-02T17:51:11","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T01:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=61159"},"modified":"2015-03-02T18:14:17","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T02:14:17","slug":"trial-opens-for-man-charged-in-2008-sword-killing-in-lancaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2015\/03\/02\/trial-opens-for-man-charged-in-2008-sword-killing-in-lancaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial opens for man charged in 2008 sword killing in Lancaster"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jesus<\/a>
Jesus “Chuey” Canales (shown at his arraignment last year), is on trial for killing his girlfriend Lucy Preciado, a 26-year-old mother of four. Canales fled the United States following the alleged murder, and he was arrested in Mexico in late 2013. During opening statements Monday, March 2, the prosecutor played a 9-1-1 call made by the couple’s young daughter. Listen to it here<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 A murder trial began Monday for a 35-year-old man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death with a sword in front of their young children at a Lancaster apartment in 2008.<\/p>\n

Jesus \u201cChuey\u201d Canales<\/strong> is charged with murder in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Lucy Preciado<\/strong>, 26, and four counts of child abuse. The case includes a special allegation of personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon, a sword.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case is about cold callous murder,\u201d Deputy District Attorney Seth Carmack told the jury during his opening statement Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Eyewitness testimony from two of the couple\u2019s children, plus facts and evidence, would prove that Canales murdered Preciado after a verbal argument during the early morning hours of July 12, 2008, Carmack told the jury. A recorded interview conducted with Canales after his capture would be played during the trial, as well, Carmack said.<\/p>\n

Jurors would also hear from a neighbor, a sheriff\u2019s detective and a medical examiner during the trial, the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n

The evidence would show that Canales and Preciado were arguing over money, and during the argument, Preciado grabbed a bat, but did not use it on Canales, according to Carmack.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor said Canales could have left the apartment, but instead he grabbed a sword and killed his girlfriend. The evidence would show that Canales slashed his girlfriend\u2019s face with the sword, splitting her lower lip down to her chin; then Canales used the sword to deliver two more blows, each of them fatal, Carmack told the jury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe rammed it through her upper left chest, and he actually rammed it so far that it came out her back,\u201d Carmack said. Canales then removed the sword and stabbed it several inches deep into Preciado\u2019s back, Carmack added.<\/p>\n

After killing his girlfriend, Canales fled the apartment, the prosecutor said, leaving four young children, including an eight-month-old baby, to deal with their dying mother.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor played the 9-1-1 call made by Preciado\u2019s young daughter. The child could be heard telling the operator, \u201cMy dad just stabbed my mom.\u201d Later in the call, the child cries and pleads, \u201cHurry up\u2026 I don\u2019t want my mom to die!\u201d (Listen to the 9-1-1 call here<\/a>.<\/em>) At least one member of the jury dabbed away tears as the call was played inside the courtroom Monday.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor asked jurors to put aside their emotions, and to rely only on facts and evidence when finding Canales guilty of murdering Lucy Preciado and endangering their four children.<\/p>\n

Canales\u2019 defense attorney deferred his opening statement Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Testimony began with Patrick Gunn, who lived in a neighboring apartment at the time of Preciado\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Gunn testified that he was working at his computer during the early morning hours of July 12, 2008, when he heard \u201can ongoing shouting match\u201d that appeared to be coming from the couple\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n

Sometime after, Gunn said he observed a \u201cseemingly agitated\u201d Canales walking down the stairs toward the garage, and then saw Canales\u2019 vehicle \u201churriedly leaving\u201d the apartment complex.<\/p>\n

Gunn said he then heard a \u201clarge, loud piercing scream\u201d that seemed to be coming from a child. Other tenants began coming out of their apartments, Gunn testified. He said he entered Preciado\u2019s apartment to offer assistance, and a small \u201cextremely distraught\u201d girl pointed him toward a bedroom.<\/p>\n

Inside the bedroom, Preciado was hunched over in a corner, rocking back and forth, Gunn said.<\/p>\n

He said he asked other tenants to remove the children from the apartment, as they waited for help to arrive.<\/p>\n

The murder trial continued Monday afternoon and is expected to continue for the rest of the week, with more witness testimony.<\/p>\n

If convicted as charged, Canales faces a maximum state prison sentence of 30 years to life.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Previous related stories:<\/p>\n

Trial ordered in 2008 sword killing<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Man pleads not guilty in 2008 sword killing<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Arraignment postponed in sword killing<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Sword wielding murder fugitive arrested<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 A murder trial began Monday for a 35-year-old man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death with a sword in front of their young children at a Lancaster apartment in 2008. Jesus \u201cChuey\u201d Canales is charged with murder in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Lucy Preciado, 26, and four counts of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":45744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}