Racine murder case: Miguel Cruz takes plea deal, will be free within a year
Racine murder case: Miguel Cruz takes plea deal
A man sentenced to life in prison in 2021 for a murder in Racine, will now walk free in less than a year. He accepted a guilty plea deal on lesser charges rather than going to a retrial he was granted this spring.
RACINE, Wis. - A man sentenced to life in prison in 2021 for a murder in Racine, will now walk free in less than a year. He accepted a guilty plea deal on lesser charges rather than going to a retrial he was granted this spring.
Plea deal accepted
What we know:
Miguel Cruz, the man convicted in 2021 for murdering Juanita Zdroik, was given a retrial because the credibility of the DNA evidence and some investigators were called into question.
Miguel Cruz in court
Zdroik’s kids spoke at that hearing where they were told Cruz would be free in less than a year.
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"When you were murdered, I didn’t only lose my mom," Zach Zdroik, the son of Juanita, said. "I lost the person that believed in me the most."
Juanita Zdroik
Zach and his family are still numb from the decision.
"It still feels so raw that we don’t know exactly where this leads us," Zach said. "Obviously, my family, we’re heartbroken, distraught."
Even though years of court battles are over – they didn’t get the longer sentencing they wanted.
"So there is a little bit of relief that it’s finally done, but it’s still a very disappointing feeling," Zach said.
Zach Zdroik
Prosecutors say Juanita was killed after witnessing a double homicide and her body was later found on Highway K in the Town of Raymond.
Zach was only 13 years old when his mom was killed, but still, he thinks about her every day.
"Me and my sister carry parts of that with us every day and my mom, despite not being here for 26 years, has never left our side and continues being a strong mother for me and my sister," Zach said.
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Cruz had 3,305 days of time served incarcerated and under supervision. After he is released from prison next year, he will go under extended supervision.
FOX6 News also reached out to Cruz's two attorneys for an interview, but they did not respond.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from a criminal complaint, Racine County court records, past FOX6 reporting and Zach Zdroik.