GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Eight months after Leah Gomez was killed in her car while her daughter was in the backseat, the child is in safe hands and Gomez's cousin feels a bit of relief that the killer was found guilty this week.
"We were all hoping that he would get all guilty on all charges," said Alicia Bechtold, Gomez's cousin.
And now that that's happened, Bechtold feels a bit of relief. She sat in the courtroom this week as Fabian Bernal Sosa was on trial for the murder of her cousin, Gomez.
"It's a horrible feeling I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," said Bechtold.
But now that it's over, she feels her family can take a small step towards healing. Including Gomez's daughter, Rosie, who is now two years old.
"She's getting the best care that she could get," said Bechtold. "She's doing great."
Rosie is with Gomez's mom, and she spends a lot of family time with Bechtold's son.
"All the time," said Bechtold. "Whenever he's not busy and she's not busy."
Bechtold said despite what Sosa and his attorneys claimed during the trial, her cousin was not in a relationship with him at the time she was killed.
"It wasn't a relationship problem. It was a him problem," said Bechtold. "She had nothing to do with it."
And as the family now awaits Sosa's sentencing, Bechtold knows what she wants to hear on that day.
"Life without parole," said Bechtold. "And I think that is what's going to end up happening."
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