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As each guilty verdict was read, Rosa Hernandez pumped her fist and whispered, "Yes!"
Minutes later, she told news reporters she was "relieved" at finally getting justice for her family and her daughter, 24-year-old Faviola Hernandez, who was slain 3½ years ago during a botched robbery at her Glendale hair salon.
The killer, 23-year-old Miguel Mateos-Martinez was convicted Wednesday of one count of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.
The five-man, three-woman jury deliberated just one hour.
Mateos-Martinez faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced April 12 by 3rd District Judge Deno Himonas.
The defendant showed no reaction to the verdicts. But moments later, he raised an eyebrow and gave a lop-sided smile to members of his family.
"He is not a human being," Rosa Hernandez said of Mateos-Martinez. "He is a person without a heart. You can see the emptiness in his eyes. He's already dead — the walking dead."
According to evidence during the three-day trial, Mateos-Martinez entered The Shop on the afternoon of Aug. 15, 2007, brandished a gun and ordered a male customer and Faviola Hernandez's younger brother and sister onto the floor.
When Mateos-Martinez demanded cash from Hernandez, she stepped into a back room for her purse, but returned holding her own gun.
Mateos-Martinez shot her once in the chest and fled without any money.
Key evidence against Mateos-Martinez included:
• Being identified as the killer — during a photo line-up, and in court — by the customer and the victim's sister, now 16.
• Testimony from the getaway driver's former girlfriend that, after the defendant entered The Shop, she heard a gunshot.
• A note, purportedly written by the defendant and passed to another Salt Lake County jail inmate, in which he confesses killing Hernandez during a botched robbery.
Defense attorney Ralph Dellapiana, who insisted police arrested the wrong man, told jurors they could find "reason to doubt" every aspect of the prosecution's case.
Dellapiana suggested the inmate, John Fraire — who has a lengthy criminal history that includes lying to police — had "a motive to fabricate" the note to frame Mateos-Martinez to gain leniency for himself in a pending drug case.
Dellapiana noted that the getaway driver's former girlfriend, Cassandra Matern, had told three different stories about her involvement. She first denied knowing anything about the crime, then claimed she learned details over the phone from the getaway driver. She even lied under oath during a preliminary hearing before changing her story yet again to say she was actually with the two men in the getaway car.
As for the two eyewitnesses, Dellapiana claimed they had neither the time nor ability to accurately identify the killer. He noted that, according to a defense expert, the ability to remember faces is hampered by stress and fear.
Dellapiana also noted that initial police bulletins identified the suspect as being 5-foot-8, while Mateos-Martinez stands only 5-foot-3.
Also, the victim's younger sister and brother told police the gunman had a tattoo on the inside of his right arm, stretching from his wrists to elbow. The boy added that the tattoo consisted of flames with the added depiction of either an animal or a face.
A photo submitted to the jury by the defense, shows instead, a series of letters on the outside of the defendant's right arm.
"There is a serious question about who did it," the defense attorney said.
Prosecutor Patricia Cassell countered that even though Matern had lied in earlier statements, the jury could rely on her testimony because it was corroborated by other evidence. For instance, Matern testified they drove past The Shop several times before parking, which is confirmed by surveillance video from an elementary school across the street.
She also reminded jurors that the defendant's fingerprints were found on the jail note containing Mateos-Martinez's confession.
Cassell also noted that within days of the homicide, both the customer and the victim's sister picked the defendant from a group of photos.
Mateos-Martinez faces a sentence of life with or without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced for the homicide. The death penalty is not an option because he was extradited from Mexico, where he is a citizen, and authorities there do not release suspects without a guarantee from U.S. prosecutors that they will not seek execution.
The getaway driver, Jesus A. Jimenez, 25, was convicted in 2008 of first-degree felony murder and aggravated robbery and is serving 21 years to life in prison.