BRIGHTON — Amid tears and her daughter’s plea for leniency, a woman who struck and killed her abusive husband with her car was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison.
Nancy Jo Arias ran over her husand on Aug. 11, 2014, after he hit her in the face several times during an argument.
Adams County District Judge Katherine Rose Delgado ordered Arias to serve two six-year sentences concurrently for manslaughter and vehicular homicide while intoxicated.
“I can’t condone the violence you endured, nor can I condone what you did that night,” Delgado told Arias in court. “You made the worst mistake of your entire life by letting your anger take control.
“You had many options that night. You were reckless that night. You could have killed somebody else,” the judge said, referring to Arias’ blood-alcohol level being twice the legal limit that night.
Arias, 39, bowed her head and sobbed loudly following the sentence.
Arias was convicted in July by an Adams County jury in the death of her husband, 38-year-old Phillip Anthony Lobato. Arias ran over Lobato in the 2700 block of West 72nd Avenue in Westminster after he struck her several times in the face during an argument that began in the car.
Arias also had been charged with first-degree murder, but the jury declined to convict her of that charge.
Thursday’s sentencing hearing was marked by poignant moments, including defense attorney Cathlin Sandler breaking down and crying.
“This was a clear self-defense case,” said Sandler, pointing out that Lobato struck her in the face and pulled her hair.
Arias’ oldest daughter, Samantha Lobato, who is missing a right hand, asked the judge for compassion and understanding.
“My mother has always been my right hand — pun intended,” said Samantha Lobato, explaining that with her help she is attending the University of Denver on scholarship. “I think it’s time for my mother to have full control of her life again.”
In a letter read to the judge, relative George Chacon said Arias was pushed over the edge following many years of abuse.
But Lobato’s sister, Bernadette Maldonado, told the judge she is not naive enough to believe that the abuse in the Lobato household was only one-sided. She pointed out that her brother’s foot was nearly severed when he was run over and that instead of visiting his grave she visits the spot where he was killed.
“Your honor, I want Nancy to know I love her and have forgiven her even if she hasn’t asked to be forgiven,” Maldonado said while crying. “I died with my brother. It has affected me in ways I would have never imagined, causing me to question my faith in God.”
Lobato’s father, Ronald, said he never knew about the domestic violence in the home.
“That day she killed my son, she took something precious to me, and I want you to give her the max,” Ronald Lobato said.
Arias told the judge about instances of abuse in which her children attended her on the floor after she was knocked unconscious. She admitted that she took the father away from her four children.
“It didn’t take one person; it took two to get that far,” said Arias, referring to her running her husband over with the car.
Lobato got out of the car and was run over as he was walking on the sidewalk. When police arrived, he was bleeding severely from the head and was unresponsive. Arias, who was kneeling next to him, told an officer she had just run him over.
Delgado explained that if anyone understood the terrible plight of domestic violence victims she did, after serving 13 years as the prosecutor of domestic violence crimes in Boulder County and meeting thousands of victims. She said she pushed passage of a bill that made the act of domestic violence in front of children a crime of abuse in itself.
But she said condoning what Arias did would send the wrong signal to domestic violence victims.
“I will never condone domestic violence. I hate domestic violence. … But this is not the solution. … Mrs. Arias, you had options. You did not have to run over your husband. You absolutely had a choice to go to police,” Delgado said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or @kirkmitchell or denverpost.com/coldcases
