Mesa man sentenced to life in prison for beating 4-year-old to death

Bree Burkitt
The Republic | azcentral.com
Jose Luis Gonzalez-Dominguez and Crystal Shantell Carimbocas

Family and friends remembered Anays Chenal Carimbocas as a happy 4-year-old who loved to dance and pass out bunches of flowers to those around her. 

But Anays' young life was cut short in 2011 when she was brutally beaten to death by her mother's fiancé, 28-year-old Jose Luis Gonzales-Dominguez.

"You knew your violence caused her terrible suffering and you did nothing to alleviate the suffering," Judge Warren Granville told Gonzales-Dominguez on Monday during his sentencing in Maricopa County Superior Court. "And it was that suffering that led to her lingering death. 

Gonzales-Dominguez was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his then-fiancée's 4-year-old daughter. 

In 2014, a jury convicted the Mesa man of first-degree murder and five counts of child abuse. He was sentenced to 44 additional years for five counts of child abuse in connection with the murder. A mistrial was declared when the jury could not decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison for the murder conviction

Gonzales-Dominguez took a plea deal in April, which let him avoid the death penalty by accepting a sentence of life in prison.

"I'm very sorry for everything that happened," Gonzales-Dominguez told the court through a Spanish interpreter. "I really am very sorry."

Anays had been living in a one-bedroom apartment in Mesa with Gonzales-Dominguez, three siblings and her mother, 34-year-old Crystal Carimbocas in 2011. Gonzales-Dominguez was regularly tasked with watching the four children while Carimbocas worked. 

Court documents said Anays was taken to the hospital after she stopped breathing in May 2011. An autopsy found she sustained countless injuries, including a lacerated liver, torn bowels, internal bruising, a fractured pelvis and 14 fractured ribs. Many of the injuries were months old. 

Skull fracture, brain hemorrhage

The Maricopa County medical examiner ultimately determined Anays' death was caused by a skull fracture and a hemorrhage in the brain, which were much more recent than the other injuries. They were likely caused hours before her death. 

Gonzales-Dominguez told Mesa Police he had taken the children to the pool at the apartment complex, police record show. He claimed Anays must have fallen while trying to get into the water. He later changed the story and said the injuries must have been caused while she was playing "rough" with a sibling. 

Surveillance footage showed Gonzales-Dominguez didn't go to the pool that day as it had been closed. 

'Gray and sick'

Prosecutors argued Carimbocas left for that night even though Anays looked "gray and sick." By then, the torn intestine had caused fecal matter to fester in her abdominal cavity, resulting in a serious infection, the pre-sentence report shows.

Carimbocas later called 911 when she returned from work and found her daughter's conditions had worsened, the report said. 

The Arizona Department of Child Safety later released a statement saying it had received a report of possible child abuse after Anays was taken to the hospital with bruised eyes, a swollen face and broken blood vessels on her ear. Investigators ruled the injuries were accidental at the time, but they were tied Gonzales-Dominguez after the trial. 

Prosecutors said Carimbocas didn't physically abuse Anays. But she was considered an accomplice because she stood by as Gonzales-Dominguez abused her daughter and did not immediately report the injuries.

She was convicted in 2014 of first-degree murder and domestic violence offenses for committing a dangerous crime against a child. 

Carimbocas was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of release after 35 years for her role in the death. Granville also gave Carimbocas two additional consecutive sentences of 28 years and 13 years for two child abuse charges. 

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