In memory of Lazaro Figueroa

In memory of Lazaro Figueroa

Sitting in her cell is Ana Cardona. The 52 year-old from Miami is awaiting the death penalty - a sentence first imposed upon her in 1992. Ana has attempted to appeal against her sentencing on more than one occassion but has proved unsuccessful.

Subsequent re-sentencing took place in 2011 and is she still awaiting execution. The death penalty is viewed by some as a barbaric interpretation of justice, and allowing an inmate to wait over twenty years, instilling fear of an impending death with each day that passes may seem a cruel and torturous act - but even that cannot compare to the heinous crime which Ana herself was found guilty of. 

On October 31st 1990, the battered and bruised body of a toddler was discovered among some bushes in Miami. The unknown child, who would come to be affectionately named 'baby lollipops' by police officers, on account of the design on his shirt, was later identified as Lazaro Figueroa - the son of Miami drug dealer, Fidel Figueroa, who was murdered shortly before his birth, and Ana Cardona, death row inmate. Lazaro weighed in at 18lbs, was 35 inches tall and believed to be around 24 months old upon his discovery. But upon further investigation it was determined that he was in fact over 3 years-old however, extreme malnourishment had seriously impeded his growth. In addition to obvious signs of starvation, the child had been inflicted with countless injuries - broken bones, open wounds, bruises, burns, and had died died as a result of blunt trauma to the head. 

Examiners were able to establish that Lazaro's mother Ana, along with her lesbian lover, Olivia Gonzales, had been torturing him for a prolonged period of time - at least several months. The fatal blow, which rendered Lazaro comatose, came from his mother.

She had hit him across the head with a baseball bat, but it is certain that he would have succumbed to the other injuries he had previously sustained. A few days prior to his death, he had been struck to the head which had caused a massive fracture which ran from above the left eye to the top of his skull. He had an infected wound on his scalp, left untreated, which had allowed meningitis bacteria to attack his brain. A burn on his cheek was consistent with that of a cigarette. He had scarring on the inside of his mouth to the extent that his frenulem was obliterated. His arms were showered with bruises, the left was stuck in a fixed position as the muscles had solidified like bone, and there was an old fracture on the outside of his right arm; both had been caused by him raising his arms to defend himself from the relentless attacks which formed an everyday part of his short life. There was bruising to his shoulder and torso, and his ear and back had pressure marks due to lying in the same position for extended periods of time. His internal organs were beginning to shutdown due to his lack of sustenance. His left leg seemed normal yet his right leg appeared emaciated. 

Further examination revealed that it was the right leg which was normal and that the increased size of the left leg was the outcome of blunt force along the entire length -it was literally swollen from bruising upon bruising. Both feet were also bruised and his toes had ligature marks present. 

The horror that this helpless little boy faced goes on and on... What makes Lazaro's tale the more heartbreaking is that he had originally been in foster care, and at 11 months-old had weighed over 20lbs, but was tragically placed back into the care of his mother. The knowledge that he had two siblings who were fed and not beaten whilst their little brother was assaulted and starved makes him the sole target of a systematic, controlled abuse. He spent the last few weeks of his life locked in a closet, his last few days with a skull fracture and festering wounds, and his last few hours comatose, but alive and breathing, in some bushes where his own mother had left him to die. 

Let us hope that the past twenty-something years Ana Cardona has spent behind bars have served her with the time to reflect upon exactly what she did to her son. She committed one of the worst crimes imaginable; she tortured and murdered a child who was hers to love and cherish. The death penalty is a just and accurate sentence - of that there is no doubt. And let us hope that little Lazaro has found the peace and freedom in death that could not be his in life. And long may our memory of him last. An unforgotten angel