Leo Cardoza, who killed 19-year-old Desiree Bragg in 2013, sentenced to 10-25 years in prison
In January 2013, 19-year-old Desiree Bragg and her boyfriend were on their way home when Leo Cardoza followed them from the Carson City freeway to her mother’s front door.
What happened next is debated, but the end result cannot be argued: Desiree Bragg, as she attempted to exit her car and get into her mother’s house, was crushed against the garage door by Cardoza’s car, and killed.
Cardoza then pulled out, and crashed the car into a backyard down the block before returning to the scene where he and Bragg’s boyfriend and father of her infant son got into a “violent altercation” that left Cardoza with several injuries and, he claims, a memory loss of the incident.
Cardoza was convicted of first degree murder and attempted murder, but that charge was overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2016, based on the fact that by law first degree murder can only be charged if the murder was premeditated, which in this case there was no evidence of.
In the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Cardoza’s lawyer Allison Joffee argued that the charge should be DUI leading to death, but that it was “too big of a risk to go to trial” on that charge and so instead Cardoza took an Alford plea, which is essentially a no contest plea where a defendant does not admit to being guilty but admits there is enough evidence that they could be found guilty in a court of law.
Bragg’s mother spoke at the hearing, and said she had accepted the plea deal as a way to keep her family from facing more heartache.
“In the last six years since Desiree’s death, I estimate I have had to be in a court room at least fifty times,” said her mother. “It is more traumatizing than the murder of my daughter. Every time we come back we have to rip the bandaid off again, and we haven’t been able to heal.”
Cardoza gave a statement, once again apologizing to the Bragg family.
“I feel remorse every day of my life for what I’ve done, and that (Desiree’s son) doesn’t have his mother, and that my daughter doesn’t have me,” said Cardoza. “I learned from a victim impact panel that no amount of saying you’re sorry will ever alleviate the grief of losing someone, and I understand that now. I learned that through my actions is the best way to show remorse to the Bragg family, and I’ve done that the past six years and I will continue doing it for the rest of my life.”
The sentencing was emotional as family members spoke about what Bragg had meant to them, and how they have coped since she had been killed six years ago.
“You gave Desiree a death sentence and you gave her son a life sentence. No amount of money or attorneys can ever reverse those sentences,” said Bragg’s grandmother. “You stole her present and her future. Instead of celebrating the changing of the seasons with Desiree, we go and decorate her cold grave.”
Joffee also implied during the sentencing that Cardoza wasn’t the only one responsible for Bragg’s death, and that because Bragg’s boyfriend and father of their infant son was an addict, and “had a temper,” that he had somehow caused the altercation, and possibly that he had beaten Cardoza before Desiree was run over.
However, both the defense and the state agreed that between life in prison with the eligibility of parole at 10 and 25 years in prison with the eligibility of parole in 10, the latter was the most fitting.
There was a discussion about concurrent and consecutive sentencing however.
Concurrent sentencing is when two sentences are served at the same time, where as consecutive means sentences are served one at a time.
District Attorney Jason Woodbury argued that because there had been two victims in the case, Bragg and her boyfriend, that the sentences should be run consecutively.
“To run sentences concurrently says that it’s no worse to attempt mortal harm on two victims than it is to attempt mortal harm on one,” Woodbury said.
Judge James T. Russell however disagreed, as it was a singular action that had been involved in the incident.
Therefore, Cardoza was sentenced to 25 years in prison with parole eligibility at ten years, to run concurrently with the attempted murder sentence.
"Victims don't come more innocent than (Desiree and her infant son)," said Woodbury. "I'm concerned as time goes by, her role in this crime will fade."
"No, we can't forget her," said Judge Russell. "I agree she and her infant son were completely innocent victims in this case. A true, horrible tragedy."