PUEBLO — Anthony Cuevas, formerly of Monte Vista, was found guilty on July 15 of first-degree murder in the gruesome death of his 58-year-old mother, Maria “Mary” Cuevas Garcia, in October of 2019.

He was immediately sentenced by Judge Allison Ernst, who sentenced him to life without parole for murder in the first degree. She gave him concurrent prison sentences for vehicular eluding and identity theft.

The trial began on July 9, and he was found guilty on July 15 after a full day of deliberations by the 12-person jury in Pueblo court.

During the trial, the defense stated that Anthony Cuevas did dump the suitcase with body parts inside in a Pueblo dumpster after his wife Melanie Cuevas had killed his mother.

The story, initially reported by the Pueblo Chieftain and subsequently covered in a series of articles by the Valley Publishing, first made headlines on Oct. 17, 2019, when authorities with the Pueblo Police Department were called to the vicinity of Ivywood and Vinewood where a bloody suitcase was discovered in a dumpster outside of a car wash. Unable to effectively search the suitcase on site, authorities towed the dumpster to a secure location where the suitcase was opened, and Cuevas Garcia’s partial remains were found.

Surveillance video from a camera at the car wash showed a man struggling with the weight of what appeared to be a suitcase as he was removing it from the back of a dark blue 2018 Nissan Versa around 6:42 a.m. on that Thursday morning. Roughly three hours later, authorities received the call about the suitcase. Unable to identify the victim and seeking the public’s assistance, police released the video along with photos of a clown tattoo on the victim’s body Thursday night.

According to a 2019 KRDO exclusive interview, family members were gathered at their home in Monte Vista watching football when the video came on the television. They immediately recognized the car as belonging to Maria “Mary” Cuevas Garcia, but “it was the victim’s tattoo that confirmed their suspicions.”

The Chieftain reports that Destia Rane Hamilton, Cuevas Garcia’s granddaughter, said her brother saw the surveillance footage first.

"He told me to look at it and I did. I recognized the car, the way he walked and how he dresses and the tattoos he has on his neck. We all knew it was him,” Hamilton said. “We were in such shock. We knew my uncle and grandma had fights, but we never knew he would go this far,” she told KRDO.

Cuevas Garcia’s car was found later in the morning of Oct. 17 after having been taken to Dionisio Metal and Iron in Pueblo.

Anthony Cuevas, 37, had a warrant out for his arrest on a parole violation after being sentenced in 2014 in Rio Grande County to 10 years for possession of a schedule II controlled substance in connection with a conspiracy charge.

In October of 2019, after getting several tips from the video and locating Cuevas Garcia’s car, police executed search warrants around the city looking for him, according to Sgt. Franklyn Ortega of the Pueblo Police Department.

That same day, detectives went to Mary Cuevas Garcia’s house on Euclid Avenue — just three miles from where her remains were dumped and where Anthony and Maria Cuevas were living since earlier that fall. Ronald Garcia, Mary’s husband, passed away on July 13 of that year.

According to KRDO, at some point on Friday, Anthony Cuevas returned to his mother’s home on Euclid while investigators were examining the scene. A chase ensued and Anthony Cuevas, driving a different car, was able to elude police, ultimately leaving the car west of Lake Pueblo State Park and getting away on foot. That same day, according to court documents, Anthony Cuevas allegedly entered a motor vehicle with intent to commit theft.

Anthony Cuevas was captured and arrested at 6:15 p.m. Friday night at Adolfo’s Restaurant in Pueblo. He was with his wife, Melanie Cuevas, 38, at the time. She was arrested on a warrant for criminal impersonation and was later released.

On Oct. 21, 2019, the Pueblo County coroner positively identified the body and released Cuevas Garcia’s name to the media.

What the Pueblo Police Department did not immediately reveal to the public — stating “it’s something only the killer would know” — is that Cuevas Garcia’s head, hands and feet had been severed from her body and dumped in a different location.

For the next five months, police searched for the missing remains, following up on numerous tips, all of which left them with nothing. Anthony Cuevas was of no assistance in the search and was described by Pueblo Police Chief Eric Bravo as being “uncooperative.”

And then, on March 10, 2020, a volunteer group cleaning up the south bank of the Arkansas River found a trash bag containing the remainder of Mary Cuevas Garcia’s body, which they reported to a Park Ranger.

Melanie Cuevas was charged with accessory to first-degree murder in Chevas Garcia’s death in April, as well. She has pled not guilty and, should her case go to trial, proceedings are expected to begin sometime in September or October of this year.