A distraught mother screamed in anguish Tuesday once her daughter’s alleged killer walked out of a Lake County courtroom after he had rejected a latest plea deal offer in her death that morning.
“Where’s my daughter,” she yelled. “This is supposed to be done already.”
Hector Delgado, 24, is charged with two counts of murder, burglary, one count of domestic battery, and strangulation in the Oct. 18, 2021 death of Alyssa Flores, 18, his ex-girlfriend. He allegedly broke into her father’s Hammond home where she lived, then beat, strangled and shot her to death in her bedroom.
He was awarded bail on Dec. 26, 2023 after multiple hearings — signaling potentially weak evidence in the case.
During Tuesday’s hearing, defense lawyer Mark Gruenhagen said they would ask for a trial date.
Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz told Jones that she had hoped he could get sentenced that day, but Delgado rejected the latest plea with a “new charge.”
A new trial date was set for Jan. 11.
Prosecutors had already offered him a 16-year plea deal for voluntary manslaughter, which Judge Gina Jones rejected in April for being too lenient. He rejected a similar plea deal offer Tuesday morning.
“He keeps walking around (free),” Flores’ mother yelled after the hearing.
“I’m so sorry,” Jatkiewicz told her as court staff gathered.
“No, you’re not,” the woman responded. “There’s a hole in my heart that I can’t fill. I want my daughter.”
She noted Delgado had a baby, while her daughter would never have children.
“It’s been five years, where’s my time,” she said. “(The) judge can stop it (not allow Delgado to reject a plea) and say, ‘No more, that’s it’.”
Alyssa’s father, Adolfo Flores Jr., previously said his daughter was a “beautiful person” who would give the “shirt off her back.” She was just starting her future in school, but was already working as a dental hygienist, he said.
Hammond Police responded on Oct. 18, 2021, to the 4000 block of Towle Avenue. A door was broken open. There was broken glass and blood on the door.
Her relative said he found Flores covered by a blanket. She was beaten so badly, he didn’t recognize her. He was at work when Flores’ boss at a dentist’s office said she hadn’t arrived for work.
She and Delgado met at a Chicago high school and dated for around 4 years, relatives said. He was full of “jealousy” and had been “abusive” for years, according to court documents.
