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Method of murder:
Beating
her head against a bathroom wall
Location: Waterbury County, Connecticut, USA
Status: Sentenced to death in December 2000. Overturned on
December 17, 2004. Resentenced to
life in prison without possibility of parole on April 1, 2006
Ivo Colon
was sentenced to death in 2000. He was convicted of capital felony for
the beating death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter, Keriana
Tellado, in Waterbury.
Colon
killed the 32-pound girl by beating her head against a bathroom wall,
holding her up by the hair when she could no longer stand. Keriana's
mother, Virginia Quintero, awaits trial on manslaughter and risk of
injury charges. Police say Quintero did nothing to stop the fatal
beating inside her apartment.
Suspect Missing in Child Murder
WTNH News Channel
July 18, 1998
(WTNH) _ Waterbury police are on the lookout tonight
for a suspect in the murder of a Waterbury 2 year old who escaped from
their custody this evening. 18-year old Ivo Colon is accused of beating
2 year old Keriana Tellado to death because she was not cooperating with
toilet training. The girl was the daughter of Colon's girlfriend. He was
being held on $3 million bond. Despite the brutal nature of the crime,
News Channel 8 has learned Colon was not shackled or handcuffed when he
made his escape.
The girl's mother, 19-year-old Virginia Quintero, was
charged with risk of injury to a minor. Colon could face the death
penalty if he's convicted. The medical examiner says the little girl
died of blunt force trauma to the head, but authorities say she had some
injuries three weeks old.
John Connelly, State's Attorney: "The police officers
who worked on this investigation have all said they have never seen a
child that has sustained such extensive injuries as to the extent of two
year old Keriana Tellado."
Police say Colon also faces an assault charge in the
beating of Keriana's 3 year-old sister.
Suspect in Child Beating Death Recaptured
News Channel 8's Judy
Chong reports.
(AP) _ A Waterbury man charged with killing a 2-year
old, has been recaptured after escaping from police custody.
Police aren't talking today about how Ivo Colon
slipped through the fingers of authorities. The 18 year old was found
about midnight yesterday hiding in a vacant apartment.
Brenda Santiago, Neighbor: "They just opened the
window, went into the apartment. I heard yelling, get down, and they
arrested him."
Colon was found right next door to Brenda Santiago.
Colon reportedly had relatives living in this apartment complex located
3 miles from police headquarters. Police were led to this empty
apartment on Knollwood Circle in Waterbury by a tipster.
Judy: "Where was he hiding inside?"
"I think they caught him in the bedroom, cause you
can see the flashlights."
Cops recaptured Colon after a massive manhunt
throughout the city. The 18 year old is charged with killing his
girlfriend's 2-year old daughter. Keriana Tellado died after Colon
allegedly bashed her head repeatedly against the bathtub. Colon told
police he became enraged with Tellado's failure to potty train. The
toddler also had extensive bruises all over her body and a broken left
arm.
Officials say Tellado was beaten over the course of 3
weeks. The little girl was locked up inside this first floor apartment -
hidden from view. Relatives who had heard rumblings about abuse tried in
vain to check up on the 2 year old.
Robert Tellado, Victim's Uncle: "I was trying to
check but nobody opened the door -nothing, had her locked up in the
house."
Now Tellado's family is trying to collect donations
to help pay for the funeral expenses to bury a little girl too little to
defend herself.
"We're all doing real bad, she was so beautiful we
all miss her."
Ivo Colon is charged with capitol felony, murder, and
assault. He faces additional charges for his escape. Four of his
relatives are charged with hindering prosecution. The child's mother,
Virginia Quintero, is charged with 2 counts of risk of injury to a minor.
The little girl is expected to be buried on Tuesday.
Ivo Colon
Connecticut Little Keriana was just 2
years old when she was beat to death by her mother's live-in-boyfriend.
He was also beating another child as well, Crystal. He would hit the
girls with his hands and a belt because they were slow in potty
training.
Two days before she
died, he picked up Keriana by the arm after she wet herself and "heard
something go pop." He refused to let the mother take the girl to the
hospital to treat the broken arm, because he feared the doctors would
see the cuts, bruises and burn marks that covered her little body.
He began beating little
Keriana again, kicking this poor baby and cutting her with his rings.
When she threw up after dinner, he took her to the bathroom and began
banging her head against the shower wall.
"Little Keriana could
not stand up, so he kept on picking her up by the hair,"
"He picked her up a
couple of times and her hair was coming out in his hands. "The medical
examiner ruled that little Keriana died of blunt force trauma to the
head.
Her
mother Virginia Quintero, 19 years old was arrested is being held on
$500,000 bond. She was arrested for failing to protect her children.
Ivo Colon, 18 years old,
was arrested and is being held on $4 million bond, accused of beating to
death Keriana, and assaulting little 3 year old Crystal. He faces
charges of murder and assault. If convicted he could receive the death
penalty.
UPDATE: 4-13-01
Ivo Colon was convicted
of Capital Felony Murder in December 2000 and now joins 6 other men on
Connecticut's death row.
Ivo Colon
As of
December 17, 2004, the death sentence of Ivo Colon was overturned by the
State Supreme Court. The prosecuting attorney has indicated that he will
move towards a second death sentence.
Colon sentenced to life in prison for killing 2-year-old girl
Boston.com
April
3, 2006
WATERBURY, Conn. --A man convicted in the 1998 beating death of his
girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter was sentenced Monday to life in prison
with no chance for parole after a state prosecutor decided not to seek
the death penalty.
Superior Court Judge William T. Cremins imposed the
sentence on Ivo Colon, 25, the Republican-American of Waterbury reported.
Colon was convicted of capital felony in 2000 in the
killing Keriana Tellado in her mother's apartment in Waterbury.
A hearing on whether Colon should be put to death by
lethal injection was to begin Thursday.
"After careful review of all the evidence, I felt, in
the interest of justice, life in prison without the possibility of
release for Colon serves the ends of justice," said Waterbury State's
Attorney John Connelly.
According to testimony at his trial, Colon bashed
Keriana's head against a shower wall until she died. Witnesses said
Colon began abusing the girl weeks before her death, because Keriana was
slow to potty train.
A jury convicted Colon, of Waterbury, and ruled that
he should be put to death. But the state Supreme Court overturned the
death sentence in 2004 because the jury received improper instructions
from the judge in the penalty phase.
A second death penalty hearing was then scheduled at
Waterbury Superior Court.
Connelly on Monday told a judge that he did not
intend to go forward with the new hearing.
"The jury was correct in 2000 in sentencing him to
death," Connelly said. "However, because of the passage of time and the
impact this has had on everyone involved in this case, I felt, even if
he received the death penalty again, there'd be further years of
litigation.
"By having him sentenced to live without the
possibility of release, the tragedy of the death of Keriana Tellado can
be brought to an end," he said.
Public Defender Michael Courtney, Colon's lawyer,
could not be reached for comment.
Colon will now be moved to the general prison
population from death row, where seven men are awaiting lethal injection.
STATE v. IVO
COLON, SC 16446
Judicial District of Waterbury
Criminal; Death Penalty;
Whether Trial Court Properly Vacated Jury's Verdict of Life Due to "Scrivener's
Error" on Verdict Form; Right of Allocution; Evidence of Uncharged
Misconduct Toward Victim to Establish "Especially Heinous, Cruel or
Depraved" Aggravating Factor; Constitutionality of Death Penalty Statute.
The defendant
was convicted of capital felony and murder in connection with the
beating death of a child. During the penalty phase hearing, the jury
filled out a special verdict form indicating that it had found the
existence of the "especially heinous, cruel or depraved" aggravating
factor in the death penalty statute, General Statutes § 53a-46a. It
also found that this aggravating factor did not outweigh the existence
of any mitigating factor, a verdict that requires a life sentence. The
trial court accepted the verdict and excused the jury. Shortly
thereafter, a juror informed the sheriff that there had been a mistake
on the verdict form, and the trial judge went into the deliberation room
to inquire about the problem. The court subsequently reassembled the
jury, determined that there had been a "scrivener's error" on the first
verdict form and allowed the jury to return a second verdict in which it
indicated that it found that the aggravating factor outweighed any
mitigating factor, a verdict requiring a death sentence. The defendant
filed a number of motions essentially seeking a life sentence or a new
penalty phase hearing. He contended that when the jury entered the
deliberating room after returning its first verdict, the jury had been
discharged. After it was discharged, he argued, the court lacked the
power to reject the first verdict. He also argued that the court had
engaged in inappropriate ex parte contact with the jurors in the
deliberating room. After a hearing, the court found that the jury had
not been finally discharged after it returned its first verdict and that
the state had borne its burden of proving that any improper ex parte
contact between the judge and the jurors was harmless beyond a
reasonable doubt. Accordingly, it denied the defendant's postverdict
motions. On appeal, the defendant challenges the court's rulings on
those motions. He also claims that the court denied him his right of
allocution because it did not allow him to address the sentencing jury
before it imposed the death penalty. He raises other claims as to the
penalty phase, which include that the court improperly excused
prospective jurors for cause based on their views of the death penalty;
that the court should have continued the case until the completion of an
ongoing study concerning whether there are racial disparities in the
administration of the death penalty in Connecticut; that the "especially
heinous, cruel or depraved" aggravating factor in § 53a-46a is
unconstitutionally vague; and that the court wrongly admitted evidence
of his uncharged misconduct toward the victim during the week of her
death to establish that the offense was committed in an especially
heinous, cruel or depraved manner. As to the guilt phase, he challenges
the denial of his motion to suppress statements and evidence on the
ground that the court improperly found that the entry of police into his
apartment was justified under the emergency exception to the warrant
requirement. In addition, he argues that General Statutes § 53a-54b,
which makes the murder of a person under the age of sixteen a capital
felony, is unconstitutional insofar as it makes the victim's age a basis
for rendering a defendant eligible for the death penalty.
Keriana Tellado was just 2
years old when she was beat to death
by her mother's live-in-boyfriend.
