Stepmother 'murdered boyfriend's two children because she was jealous'

A stepmother accused of murdering her boyfriend's two young children was motivated by jealousy of their biological mom, according to an attorney in the case. 

Corena Rose Minjarez, 36, and her boyfriend Jesus Dominguez, 35, of Pueblo, Colorado, appeared in court Friday charged with murdering the children. 

They were arrested in February after other relatives raised concerns about the Dominguez children Jesus Jr., five, and Yesenia, three, and cops uncovered their bodies. The reports were made around six years after the children's last confirmed sighting.

Yesenia was found encased in concrete inside Kings Storage Unit where the family had been living in Pueblo, while her brother's remains were found inside a suitcase in the trunk of a car at a nearby scrap yard. 

Defense attorney Becky Briggs, who is representing Dominguez, said Minjarez was jealous of the children's biological mother because she believed she was cheating with her ex, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. 

Judge Allison Ernst ruled Friday during a preliminary hearing that the defendants would face trial. 

Minjarez and Dominguez are each charged with first-degree murder of a victim under 12 by a person in a position of trust, and abuse of a corpse.

Minjarez's relatives told investigators they were worried about the harsh discipline methods she used on the young children, including locking the girl in a room until she finished eating a carrot. 

The defendant's own teenage son even confronted her over 'excessive physical punishment' she allegedly used against Jesus Jr such as slapping him, and locking both children in their bedrooms for long periods. 

He told detectives he believed his mother took her anger over her tense relationship with Dominguez out on his children. 

Another relatives also claimed she told detectives she wished she never had children because 'life would be so much easier'. 

Minjarez and Dominguez lived with the children on Sundance Drive in Pueblo until March 2018 when they were evicted from their home, detectives said. 

At this point they started living in their car until some point in 2019 when they moved to Bonnymede Road. By the time of this move, the children were no longer with them, detectives said. Their suspected time of killing is unclear. 

It was Minjarez's mother who alerted police about the missing children, telling cops she had not seen them since June 2018. 

She said there was a suspicious trashcan full of concrete in the storage unit where the couple had been living. Police cut into the concrete and found the decomposed remains of Yesenia wrapped in layers of trash bags. 

Sgt. Steven Jesik said cops believe the defendants mixed the concrete in the unit, after finding two torn-open 80-pound bags of concrete mix, a shovel, and a tool to spray water. 

The storage facility owners told police the unit had been rented in March 2018, and by July, they noticed an odd smell coming from the compound. They called Minjarez, who blamed the odor on hamburger meat she said she left inside. 

Jesus Jr's remains were found inside Minjarez's vehicle at a Pueblo scrapyard on February 6 this year, inside a suitcase in the trunk. 

The children's remains were so badly decomposed that their causes of death could not be determined.