Girl pleads not guilty in torture attack

Attempted murder among the charges

By Greg Moran, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Friday, December 25, 2009 at 12:08 a.m.

A 14-year-old Escondido girl pleaded not guilty to charges of torture and attempted murder yesterday and was ordered held in custody on $2 million bail.

Kristina Amador is accused of attacking and stabbing an Escondido teenager last May, an attack prosecutors say was motivated because both Amador and the victim liked the same boy.

Amador was ordered Tuesday to face the charges as an adult by a Superior Court judge, who found her unfit to be tried in the juvenile system, where penalties are less severe and there is an overriding emphasis on rehabilitation.

As an adult Amador faces life in prison if convicted of the charges.

Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nikoletich said Amador attacked the victims as she opened up the back door of her home on the evening of May 3. She was helped by two other juveniles, a boy and girl. The boy is being tried in juvenile court.

The other girl, Jovana Gudino, also 14, faces the same charges as Amador and is also being tried as an adult. She too has pleaded not guilty.

Nikoletich said that once inside the victim’s home, Amador attacked the girl with a knife. She is accused of stabbing her several times and carving the victim on the back, arm and face.

The victim was the dragged into the bathroom and instructed by Amador to wash off the evidence, Nikoletich said. The victim was stabbed five times and suffered a collapsed lung.

Amador is also charged with a separate count of assaulting the girl a week before the attack.

From: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/25/girl-pleads-not-guilty-torture-attack/