Murder trial pushed back
Pregnant woman killed; fetus taken
The trial for a 24-year-old woman accused of killing a pregnant Pasco mother has been moved to May 18 because prosecutors have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty.
Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong appeared in court Friday to agree to the trial delay of seven weeks.
She is charged in Benton County Superior Court with aggravated first-degree murder in the June 27 death of Araceli Camacho Gomez.
Prosecutor Andy Miller was to decide by Feb. 10 if he will seek the death penalty, but Miller and defense attorneys agreed Friday that more time is needed.
Sisouvanh Synhavong’s lawyers, Dan Arnold of Richland and Michael Iaria of Seattle, are completing a mitigation packet in which they attempt to sway prosecutors to show leniency for their client. The packet extensively covers the defendant’s upbringing, medical background, any criminal history and interviews with relatives.
Once Miller receives the information, he will review it and meet with the victim’s family before making a decision. He now has until March 10 to file notice to seek the death penalty.
Gomez, a 27-year-old Pasco mother of two, was found dead early June 28 in Columbia Park, about three-quarters of a mile east of Edison Street in Kennewick. Her hands and feet were bound, she had multiple stab wounds to her chest, and her unborn son had been cut from her womb.
Prosecutors allege that Sisouvanh Synhavong killed Gomez and cut the woman’s nearly full-term baby out of her womb. She then called 911, telling dispatchers she had just given birth but that she thought her newborn son was dead, according to court documents.
Emergency responders found Sisouvanh Synhavong covered in blood in the back seat of her car holding what appeared to be an umbilical cord.
Paramedics resuscitated the baby, who was about three weeks premature, then rushed him to the hospital.
Once Sisouvanh Synhavong was at the hospital, hospital staff discovered the baby didn’t belong to her and notified police, documents said.
The infant, Salvador Gomez, is being raised by his father and two older siblings.