Elsie Margiretta Murguia Sentenced After Death of Six-Year-Old Gaje Jeffrey Florence

Editor's note: The following is a first-person news account from Associated Content CP Rosa Hayes, who lost her son in an auto accident. Hayes lives in Oklahoma City. NewsOK.com has a full account of the accident.

As we sat outside waiting impatiently for the time to come in which Elsie Margiretta Murguia would be sentenced, all I could think about was our son. Gaje Jeffrey Florence was only six years old at the time of his death and now we were waiting for the moment in which his killer would be put to justice.

The court was set for nine in the morning and yet I had been up since four with only about three hours of sleep. Who could sleep at a time like this? I had sat up all the night the night before wondering why this had happened to us and how I might feel a little bit of ease once the court process was over. I was wrong, even after Murguia was sentenced for the death of Gaje, I still felt a longing that had been there this entire time.

As we walked into the court room that smelt musky, I sat in a bench that was closest to the judge. The District Attorney, David Prater, walked in and greeted us and went over the process with us so that we would be better prepared for what was about to come.

Murguia was pleading guilty to negligent homicide and breaking her probation. She would stand there and admit her guilt in front of all of us for the first time.

It was our time now and we stood up in front of the judge. I had never been so close to Murguia and yet I felt no sympathy for her. I remember the Honorable Judge Hall asking how she pleaded. Murguia hesitated and then abruptly said, guilty your Honor.

This was the first time that she had admitted to what she had done. I felt tears starting to flow from my eyes. My husband grasped my hand firmly and began to cry. Guilty..... it was something that I had hoped for all along and yet I couldn't make myself believe what she had said or what she had done.

Murguia was sentenced to one year for negligent homicide, which is the maximum allowed by law for this charge, and three years probation. She is not able to drive for the term of her sentence. Murguia now has a felony charge on her for breaking her probation.