Ariz. sex offender serving time for kidnapping, killing 13-year-old is sentenced for murder of 6-year-old

TUCSON, Ariz. (TCD) — A 42-year-old convicted intercourse offender already serving life in jail for kidnapping and killing a 13-year-old lady has been sentenced to one other life time period in jail for the dying of a 6-year-old youngster who vanished in 2012.

The Pima County Legal professional’s Workplace introduced April 10 {that a} decide sentenced Christopher Clements to serve pure life in jail with out parole for the homicide of 6-year-old Isabel Celis, in addition to 17 years for kidnapping and three years for housebreaking. He beforehand obtained a life sentence for the dying of 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez, who disappeared in 2014.

Based on a press release from the Tucson Police Division, on April 21, 2012, at 8:13 a.m., officers launched a lacking particular person investigation after Celis went lacking from her house within the 5600 block of East twelfth Road. Investigators didn’t discover Celis on the time, and the case remained open for the subsequent a number of years with assist from federal, state, and native legislation enforcement companies. Police stated they obtained “a number of thousand suggestions and leads over the course of the investigation.”

Greater than two years later, on June 3, 2014, Gonzales left her house close to Broadway Boulevard and Wilmot Highway however by no means returned. Officers recovered her stays in a desert close to North Trico and West Avra Valley roads three days later. Investigators with the Pima County Sheriff’s Division dominated Gonzalez’s dying a murder.

In 2017, authorities recognized Clements as a major suspect within the disappearance of the primary sufferer, Celis. Based on The Related Press, Clements instructed FBI brokers he would cause them to Celis’ stays in the event that they dropped unrelated housebreaking costs. He additionally reportedly acknowledged he wasn’t concerned in her dying.

Investigators recovered Celis’ stays in the identical space the place officers situated Gonzalez’s physique, and so they dominated her dying a murder.

A jury initially indicted Clements on Sept. 14, 2018, on a number of costs, together with homicide, within the deaths of the 2 younger ladies.

Earlier than his sentencing, Clements reportedly maintained his innocence and stated he felt he wasn’t given a good trial.

Based on The Related Press, Celis’ father instructed the court docket, “Till the day I die, I’ll really feel liable for not doing my job and defending my little lady from the evil that lurked exterior her window.”

After sentencing, Pima County Legal professional Laura Conover stated, “We don’t take evenly a request for a sentence of pure life, as a result of in impact we’re asking for a sentence of dying on the conclusion of incarceration. However there are occasions once we do ask for simply such a sentence, as we did right this moment. And in reaching that objective, this particular person can carry no additional hurt to our neighborhood.”

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