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There was no dispute that toddler Alejandro Lucero died on Aug. 24 from a broken spine, according to prosecutors. The only question, they told a 3rd District Court jury, was who inflicted the fatal injury.

After a weeklong trial and 3½ hours of deliberations, the jurors decided the boy's teenage mother committed the crime, convicting Adrianna Lucero of murder and child abuse.

The mother and several supporters cried after the verdict by the panel of six women and two men was announced. Defense attorney Stephen McCaughey said he was surprised by the verdict.

Lucero faces up to life in prison; a sentencing date before Judge Vernice Trease has not been set.

Taking the stand in her own defense, Lucero denied ever hurting the boy and said her then-boyfriend -- Sergio Martinez-Gonzalez, who is the father of her 5-month-old twins but was not Alejandro's father -- must have killed the toddler.

Martinez-Gonzalez, now 27, testified for the prosecution and claimed Lucero was alone with Alejandro immediately before he was injured.

Lucero, who was 17 when her son died, was tried as an adult. The child-abuse charge stems from a bruise on his back that the boy, who was about to turn 2, allegedly suffered a week before.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Cristina Ortega contended Lucero has a quick temper and lost control under the pressure of caring for three children under age 3.

She said the young mother literally snapped Alejandro's spine in half, then lied to implicate Martinez-Gonzalez. However, the boyfriend had no motive or opportunity to hurt the little boy, Ortega said.

"Sergio was never alone with Alejandro," she said.

McCaughey argued that Martinez-Gonzalez is the real killer and pointed out that the boyfriend pleaded no contest last year to domestic violence assault in an incident involving Lucero.

He also said Salt Lake County sheriff's detectives decided right away that Lucero was the killer and didn't want the truth. He urged the jury to again watch a video of an interrogation of Lucero by detectives that lasted two hours and 40 minutes.

"If she was guilty, she would have broken under that pressure," he said.

Ortega also suggested that jurors take a second look at the interview and note inconsistent statements by Lucero.

Both Lucero and Martinez-Gonzalez say they were watching a movie in his rented room in Kearns on the day Alejandro died when one of them -- Lucero says it was her boyfriend and he claims it was her -- took the toddler to another room to get Jell-O. Within a minute, the two say, the injury occurred.

Lucero initially told police the boy had a seizure while she was with him but changed her statement after she learned Alejandro's back had been broken. The mother said she lied at first because she thought her son had died of a seizure and she wanted to protect Martinez-Gonzalez, who is in the United States illegally, from being deported.

Martinez-Gonzalez was initially charged with second-degree felony obstructing justice, but the charge was dropped. According to a transcript of a Sheriff's Office interview, investigators told Martinez-Gonzalez if he "worked with them," immigration authorities would "work with him."

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