24 year sentence handed down in toddler’s death

by Eric Mullens
WALSENBURG —  Marissa Jackson appeared in Third Judicial District Court Wednesday and was sentenced in connection with the 2014 death of four-year old Alani Tatiana Reyes-Cueva.
After hearing from Alani’s father, Donavan Cueva, Jackson’s attorney Adam Schultz, state prosecutor Dan Edwards and Jackson herself, District Judge Leslie Gerbracht sentenced Jackson to 24 years in prison on the felony count of child abuse resulting in death.  Jackson received credit for over 450 days of pre-sentence confinement and a one year concurrent sentence in the county jail on the misdemeanor child abuse count covering injuries to the five other children in the home at the time Alani died.
Michelle Reyes, Alani’s biological mother,  was also in court but did not speak at the sentencing hearing Wednesday morning.
“This is a tragic situation,” Judge Gerbracht said, saying she had lost sleep over the past two days as she considered her ruling.  Gerbracht said this was one of the most difficult judgements she has had to rule on during her time on the bench.
Cueva told the court no one but Marissa really knew what happened the night his daughter died.  “The only person she has to answer to is the guy upstairs,” he said.  ”I should have done things differently,” he said, “I should have been there, Michelle should have been there. This wasn’t a house of horrors, this was a happy house,” he said.
Schultz told the court the pre-sentence investigation said Jackson had suffered physical abuse at the hands of her ex-husband and had been sexually abused as a child raised in a Native American tribal setting. 
Edwards, speaking for the people, told the court if he had prior knowledge of what Jackson wrote in answer to questions in the pre-sentence investigation, he would never have offered the plea bargain.    Edwards called the death of the toddler brutal, heinous, and callous.  He said there was clear evidence the abuse was not a one-time thing, but a pattern in the home for at least the six weeks prior to the night when the little girl was struck down by a fatal blow.
Jackson, shackled and wearing a yellow jail jump suit, told the court she didn’t remember what exactly happened and was in shock when interviewed by Walsenburg police and CBI agents.  She said if she could exchange her life for Alani’s she would.
“I still think when I get out she’ll still be there waiting for me,” Jackson said of Alani.  “I did the best I could for them, all six of them, “ she said, “I’m so sorry to Donavan and Michelle, no parent should have to go through this.”