DENVER — On Friday, Orvelina Gonzalez came face to face with the man accused of killing her 15-year-old son, Wayli Alvarado-Gonzalez.
Elijah Martinez, 18, is facing first-degree murder and attempted murder charges for the New Year’s Day stabbing in a southwest Denver 7-Eleven parking lot.
“[It’s] really sad because if he would have thought of the consequences of his act and where he’s at, I think he would have thought differently,” Orvelina said through a translator.
Orvelina says Wayli had never mentioned Martinez’s name before, and doesn’t think the two knew each other.
“That’s why she can’t understand why — what is the reason behind [it]?” Orvelina’s translator, Johanna Moreno, told FOX31, adding, “If he would have known Wayli, he would have known he was a good person.”
Wayli and Orvelina were separated for 10 years before Wayli was able to get to the U.S. to live with Orvelina.
Orvelina says she moved to the U.S. from Guatemala in 2008.
Wayli came to the U.S. in 2018, but Orvelina says he was briefly detained at an out-of-state Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
She says the two had spent the last year trying to make up for lost time.
“He says he feel so happy with her,” Moreno said, translating. “He used to say when he was 18 years old, he was going to work hard to help her.”
Orvelina says her son had plans to become a police officer after high school. Instead, she will have to bury him later this month.
“He ruined his future and he ruined my son’s future,” she said, describing how she felt when Martinez walked into the courtroom Friday.
Orvelina says thanks to a GoFundMe account, she’ll be able to take Wayli back to Guatemala to be buried — and be in the presence of the family that helped raise him.
“When Wayli was there, her sister was the one to help her take care of Wayli. So she’s more than an aunt, she’s a mother too,” said Moreno.
Bond has not yet been posted for Martinez.
The affidavit for the case has been sealed, so details are still limited.