Twisted parents murdered two children and drove around with body for 6 years

A twisted Colorado couple murdered their two young children and drove around with one of their bodies in the boot of their car for over a decade before finally being apprehended by authorities.

Jesus Dominguez Jr., 5, and Yesenia Dominguez, 3, had not been seen since the Summer of 2018 according to the Pueblo Police Department, yet despite not being seen for months, the couple had insisted that the children were alive and well and staying with relatives in Arizona.

However the truth about their whereabouts was finally uncovered on January 20, 2024 when police were called to a storage unit being used by their father Jesus Dominguez Sr., 37, and his girlfriend, Corena Minjarez, 37.

The pair had been living in the storage unit when Corena's mother discovered a mysterious metal container and alerted the authorities about the suspicious item. On investigation by police, the tale took an unexpectedly harrowing turn, when they discovered little Yesenia's remains encased in concrete within it.

During the investigation and following the grim discovery, detectives continued their search for Jesus Jr, which led them to a vehicle belonging to Minjarez at a local scrap yard. Inside the car, they found a suitcase in the boot containing the five year old's body.

Dominguez and Minjarez were both subsequently arrested for the children's murders, and in July, Dominguez took a plea deal and agreed to testify against his girlfriend, reported KKTV.

At her trial, which took place on Thursday, Dominguez relayed the heartbreaking reality of what had transpired, including the horrific details of his children's murders.

According to local news outlet The Pueblo Chieftain, Dominguez explained how his daughter Yesenia had been killed on March 14, 2018, when he was driving his girlfriend's 2004 Pontiac Grand Am to pick up her children and his nephew from school.

During the journey, Yesenia had wet herself, prompting Minjarez to make her sit on the floor of the vehicle in a bin bag, to avoid getting urine on the car. He later claimed that Minjarez told him Yesenia had stopped breathing, but neither of them thought to take her to the hospital or seek medical attention as she was already showing signs of abuse from where Minjarez had bitten her hand.

Fearing reprisal, they instead drove home to the house they were in the process of being evicted from and placed the body in a suitcase. Following the eviction the whole family moved into the Pontiac, and were living in the vehicle with the suitcase containing Yesenia's body stashed in the trunk.

While living in the car, both Dominguez and Minjarez were regularly using heroin and snorting meth, and little by little they began to smell the decaying body as it progressed through varying degrees of decomposition. Jesus Jr also began to experience a regression in his potty training and started to wet himself, something which sparked the wrath of Minjarez.

On one occasion, in April 2018, Jesus Jr suffered a toileting accident in the car, prompting Minjarez to spray him down with a power washer that was so intense it caused lacerations near the boy's groin.

A few weeks after this incident, Dominguez recounted his son's final moments as he claimed that while heading out to buy drugs, Jesus Jr, just like his sister, had stopped breathing while in the car. Again, the couple decided not to take him to the hospital and instead decided to put the boy's body in a suitcase with several layers of bin bags.

According to investigators, the crime came to light after Minjarez's mother called the police after finding a mysterious trash can filled with concrete in the couple's storage unit. She also recalled a distinctly "foul" smell having come from her daughter's car in 2018.

After police investigated and discovered Yesenia's body in the storage unit, they acquired a warrant to seize Minjarez' former vehicle which was in a scrap yard, and discovered Jesus Jr's remains in the boot.

An autopsy report into the deaths ruled the manner of death for both children was "homicidal violence." However, the remains were too severely decomposed to determine an exact cause or date of death, according to detectives.

Following their arrest, Dominguez plead guilty to one count of second-degree murder in connection with the 2018 deaths of 5-year-old Jesus Dominguez Jr. and 3-year-old Yesenia Dominguez.

Part of his plea deal required him to testify against his girlfriend Minjarez, who is currently on trial for two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abuse of a corpse.

Dominguez's sentencing is scheduled for September 12 and Minjarez's trial is scheduled to proceed through August 29.

The closing arguments were completed on Monday, with Minjarez' defence arguing that Dominguez was actually responsible for the deaths and that she only protected him because she loved him.

A jury will now deliberate the case. They have yet to reach a verdict.