SAN ANTONIO – Angry words were spoken from a senior district court judge Thursday as he sentenced a baby killer to life in prison.
“This was a cruel and horrific crime that you committed,” 399th District Court Judge Ray Olivarri said. “You are going to have to answer to a higher authority than me at some point in your life.”
Olivarri was addressing Nidia Alvarado, 28, who he had just sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her newborn son.
Two days before Christmas in 2013, Alvarado strangled the child, placed his body in a bag and dumped it outside a South Side recycling plant.
Alvarado had given birth to the child at a local hospital under a false name. When a portion of the hospital bracelet on the child’s body led police to Alvarado, she confessed to strangling him.
“She claimed that the father of the child coerced, or forced, her to do it,” said Joel Perez, Alvarado’s attorney.
Prosecutors located the father of the child, who denied Alvarado’s claim.
“He had heard that she was arrested for killing a child when she was pregnant, but did not know that that baby was his baby,” prosecutor Scott Simpson said. “He would have been happy to take care of that child.”
Alvarado was initially charged with capital murder, but as part of a plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder.
“She had no criminal history, has mental problems and had difficult childhood,” said Simpson, as he explained why the charges were reduced to murder. “We factored all that in. It was a horrible crime, and life is a very serious sentence.”
Alvarado must serve 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole.