EDWARDSVILLE — Breanna D. Maldonado (d.o.b. 5/8/95) was sentenced by Circuit Judge Kyle Napp at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, June 27, at the Criminal Justice Center in Edwardsville.
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Maldonado (d.o.b. 5/8/95), who was sentenced to 22 years in prison, was convicted by a Madison County Jury on March 4, 2016, for the murder of Kaitlin Juenger (d.o.b. 5/17/93) during an argument at a QuikTrip in Granite City.
The Madison County State's Attorney's Office charged Maldonado after officers from the Granite City Police Department responded to a reported altercation at a local QuikTrip on October 6, 2013. Upon arrival, police found Kaitlin N. Juenger (d.o.b. 5/17/93) lying on the ground near a vehicle in the parking lot. She and another victim, 30-year-old Hugo Valenzuela, had both been stabbed.
The investigation revealed that Maldonado was driving a 26-year-old male passenger to the hospital for treatment from an injury he suffered earlier in the evening. She, Antonio M. Carlin (d.o.b. 1/2/95), the male and another passenger, a 20-year-old female, stopped at the QuikTrip prior to reaching the hospital. It was at that time a verbal altercation began between the passengers and several other people at the business. Carlin stabbed Valenzuela in the abdomen while Maldonado stabbed Juenger through her car window before she drove away.
Valenzuela, a resident of Collinsville, was treated and later released from a local hospital. Juenger, however, suffered a fatal stab wound to her chest and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 3:00 a.m. Granite City police stopped Maldonado a short distance from the scene. The four occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody without incident. She and Carlin were both charged by the State's Attorney's Office the next day for their role in the two stabbings.
State’s Attorney Gibbons recognized the work of his Assistant State's Attorneys Crystal Uhe, Chief of the Criminal Division, and Josh Jones, of the Violent Crimes Unit, for their successful prosecution of Maldonado. The defendant will be required to serve 100 percent of the sentence that was handed down by Circuit Judge Kyle Napp.
“I would like to thank Judge Napp for her consideration of all the facts and law in this case and for ensuring that this violent defendant will be locked up behind bars for a long time,” said State’s Attorney Gibbons. “I am hopeful that the conviction and sentence in this case will provide justice for the family, friends and loved ones of Kaitlin.”
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