Death Penalty Recommended in Girl’s Killing : Courts: Nadia Puente, 9, was kidnaped, raped by Richard DeHoyos. Jurors deliberated 4 days.

A Superior Court jury recommended Monday that a Texas drifter die in the gas chamber for kidnaping, raping and murdering a 9-year-old schoolgirl.

Jurors deliberated a little more than four days before deciding that Richard Lucio DeHoyos, 35, should be sentenced to death for the March 29, 1989, slaying of Nadia Puente of Santa Ana. The child’s body was found stuffed in a garbage can in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park.

DeHoyos pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Defense attorney Milton C. Grimes told jurors that DeHoyos suffered from a mental illness that caused uncontrollable, violent outbursts. Such an outburst led to Nadia’s death, Grimes had argued.

While several jurors agreed that DeHoyos suffered some mental illness, foreman Gregg E. Plambeck, 38, said Monday that all concluded that his attorney failed to prove that the illness compelled DeHoyos to kill the girl.

“We felt that there may have been some underlying illness that he had, but the defense . . . did not pinpoint (how that illness) related to the crime,” Plambeck said.

Grimes reacted angrily when told of Plambeck’s statement.

“We had more than 10 experts testifying about Mr. DeHoyos’ illness--his inability to control his rage,” Grimes said. “That was a chain-link fence that showed how his sickness was linked to his action. I don’t know how many more experts we have to bring in to show that he was and is a very sick man.”

Juror Scott Scruggs said panelists were split on their first vote Thursday, when eight voted for the death penalty, three chose life in prison without the possibility of parole and one was undecided. On Monday morning, 11 jurors voted for the death penalty and one still favored life in prison, he said. The final juror switched sides on Monday afternoon, Scruggs said.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey scheduled an Aug. 27 sentencing hearing, at which time he will decide whether to uphold the jury’s recommendation that De Hoyos receive the death penalty.

If Dickey follows the jury’s recommendation, DeHoyos would become the 26th defendant from Orange County to be placed on Death Row and would join more than 360 other men and women who have been sentenced to death, said Christine May, information officer for the state Department of Corrections.

Monday, as the clerk read aloud the jury’s recommendation, Nadia’s family collectively gasped and cried.

“I have waited a long time” for the recommendation, Nadia’s mother, Sarah Puente, said in a breathless, breaking voice. “I’m glad at this point that it’s done.”

In the middle of the next statement, Puente convulsed uncontrollably and had to be escorted away by a bailiff and her family.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert C. Gannon Jr. said he was gratified by the jury’s decision. “What happened to Nadia was a parent’s worst nightmare,” the prosecutor said. “This little girl was less than 100 yards from the front door of her home” when DeHoyos kidnaped her.

During the four-month trial, prosecutors contended that DeHoyos knew exactly what he was doing and even tried to lie to police about his involvement in the little girl’s death to protect himself.

Before coaxing Nadia into his car by posing as a teacher, DeHoyos tried to persuade another young girl to come with him, but she ran away and later told police, Gannon said.

The jury’s recommendation marks the second time that a jury has determined that DeHoyos should die for his crimes. A jury reached the same decision in 1991, but that verdict was overturned due to jury misconduct, requiring the second trial.

During the retrial, DeHoyos testified that he attacked the child while in a rage over losing his job at a fast-food restaurant earlier that same day. He was furious at the manager who fired him, not Nadia, he told jurors.

“She (Nadia) just happened to get in the way, and I killed her,” he testified.

DeHoyos said he took her to a hotel. He said he became angry when Nadia walked into the bathroom where he was taking a bath and saw him naked. He grabbed her, he testified, and during a scuffle the two fell into the bathtub with DeHoyos on top of the girl’s body. He said he then slid her body into the tub and left her there.

An autopsy showed that Nadia died of chest compression, from being forcibly bent over the side of the tub.

Times staff writer Alicia DiRado contributed to this report