Thursday, December 18, 2025
32.0°F

Gomez to exchange vows in jail

David Cole<br>Herald Staff Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 18 years, 8 months AGO
by David Cole<br>Herald Staff Writer
| April 6, 2007 9:00 PM

EPHRATA — Maribel Gomez, who was convicted of killing her 2-year-old son Rafael "Raffy" Gomez, is getting married.

Jose Ramon Arechiga, 33, of Ephrata, Raffy's father, and Gomez applied for a marriage license Tuesday at the Grant County Courthouse, according to documents.

Gomez, 32, of Ephrata, remains in Grant County Jail until Tuesday or Thursday, when she is scheduled to be transported to Purdy Treatment Center, which is now Washington Corrections Center for Women, said Capt. Pete McMahon, with the Grant County Sheriff's Office.

McMahon said the jail is not involved with the couples wedding plans.

Jail-visitation marriages, are not a frequent occurrence in Ephrata, McMahon said.

Marriage ceremonies occur during regular jail visitation hours. The bride and groom, separated by a glass partition, exchange their vows via intercom telephones.

"It's not a very romantic affair," McMahon said today. "There's no honeymoon, no kissing, no rice throwing, no ring passing."

Gomez is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in Grant County Superior Court and could receive a prison term of 20 to 26 years, the standard range.

She was convicted March 28 of homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter for Raffy's September 2003 death.

Gomez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, has five other children in foster care. Arechiga is the father of two of the children.

Gomez's defense lawyer, Bobby Moser of Moses Lake, plans to appeal her conviction.

ARTICLES BY DAVID COLE<BR>HERALD STAFF WRITER

January 25, 2007 8 p.m.

Lybbert gets mental exam

EPHRATA - A 20-year-old Moses Lake man accused of killing his girlfriend's disabled father in September entered Eastern State Hospital last week for a mental evaluation, his lawyers said Wednesday.

January 16, 2007 8 p.m.

Women charged with kidnapping related to Cascade Valley shooting

EPHRATA — A 24-year-old Moses Lake woman is charged with first-degree kidnapping in connection with a Jan. 2 double shooting at a Cascade Valley duplex where one man was killed and another suffered a serious head wound.

June 28, 2007 9 p.m.

Pruitt may be tried as adult

Teen charged with robbery and murder