GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - In the 22 years since Federico Cruz decapitated a Sparta teen and recorded himself talking to the severed head, the once drug-addled, suicidal youth who committed the 1996 atrocity has learned to love himself and others, his attorney says.
“He is not the same person. Not even close,’’ Grand Rapids attorney Andrew Rodenhouse contends. “The 16-year-old who committed that horrible crime no longer exists.’’
Rodenhouse plans to showcase the softer side of Cruz during a court hearing next week that will determine if Cruz is eventually released from prison for the April, 1996 murder of 17-year-old David Crawford.
It will be a tough sell.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker and his predecessor, William Forsyth, both say Cruz should die behind bars.
“He wanted a skull, a real skull to use as a decoration,’’ Becker wrote in a court brief seeking a no parole sentence. “In addition to cutting off his head, Federico tried to cut out David’s heart.’’
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles. It said life sentences are still an option, but only under the rarest of circumstances.
The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office has filed motions to impose no parole sentences on 13 defendants serving life terms for murders committed as teens. Becker says Cruz tops the list.
“This is probably the most serious one out of all of them, just looking at the actual crime,’’ Becker said. “That is why we are going forward to try and keep him in prison.’’
Cruz is expected to testify at the Kent County Circuit Court hearing that will determine if he stays locked up for life or is given a term of years. The hearing is scheduled for two days.
The facts of the case are not in dispute.
On April 29, 1996, Cruz struck up a conversation with Crawford, who was walking beside railroad tracks along Schultz Street NW east of Alpine Avenue. Cruz offered to show Crawford marijuana plants growing in the woods. When Crawford stepped on one of the plants, Cruz said he flew into a rage and killed the teen, court record show.
Rodenhouse said his client thought that killing Crawford “would please Satan.’’
“At the time, Mr. Cruz stated that he heard demonic voices and that posters in his bedroom spoke to him,’’ Rodenhouse wrote in a court brief opposing a life sentence.
Police found the victim's headless body propped up against a tree. Cruz took the head home and dissected it. He set up a video and recorded himself doing so. He provides commentary with loud music blaring in the background.
Since going to prison at the age of 18, Cruz has done much to rehabilitate himself, Rodenhouse said.
“It wasn’t until he got to prison that he started to realize the value of human life and that he needs to love himself in order to even love others,’’ Rodenhouse said.
He’s involved in a four-year college degree program, he provides mentorship to others and mediates inmate disputes. And he donates money to feed hungry children, Rodenhouse said.
“I think in watching him and looking at him he has developed a real servant’s heart, because he knows that there’s nothing he can say or do to ever compensate or make recompense for the horrible thing that he did. And he has to live with that inside him.’’
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