Steven Rios, the former Columbia, Missouri, police officer convicted of murdering 23-year-old University of Missouri student Jesse Valencia in 2004, is still in prison and will not be eligible for parole until 2049. He is serving a life sentence plus 23 years and continues to maintain his innocence.1Oxygen. Missouri Cop Steven Rios Killed Jesse Valencia After Affair
Current Prison and Parole Status
At his 2009 sentencing, Rios asked to serve his time in a Minnesota prison, where he had previously been held.2KRCG. Rios Sentenced to Life in Prison Reporting as of 2020 placed him in a South Dakota facility.3Columbia Tribune. NBC to Revisit Rios Trial
Under Missouri law, Rios must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence on the murder charge before he can be considered for parole. That puts his first parole eligibility in 2049.1Oxygen. Missouri Cop Steven Rios Killed Jesse Valencia After Affair
The Conviction Keeping Him in Prison
Rios was convicted in December 2008 of second-degree murder and armed criminal action for the June 5, 2004, killing of Jesse Valencia, whose body was found in a field near his East Campus apartment with his throat cut.4Columbia Missourian. Rios Gets Life Sentence for Murder Rios, then a married Columbia police officer, had been having a secret sexual relationship with Valencia for about seven weeks before the murder, using a false name with him.5CNN. Rios Trial
On January 16, 2009, retired Boone County Circuit Judge Frank Conley imposed the jury’s recommended sentences: life imprisonment for second-degree murder and 23 years for armed criminal action, with the terms ordered to run consecutively. The 23-year count matched Valencia’s age at the time of his death.4Columbia Missourian. Rios Gets Life Sentence for Murder6FindLaw. State v. Rios, No. WD 70581
Why He Isn’t Serving Life Without Parole
Rios’s current sentence is not his original one. A jury first convicted him in May 2005 of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, which carried an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole plus ten years.5CNN. Rios Trial
In 2007, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, reversed that conviction and ordered a new trial. The court found that the trial judge had wrongly admitted hearsay testimony from a friend of Valencia’s that was central to the prosecution’s motive argument.7Justia. State v. Rios, 234 S.W.3d 4128Columbia Missourian. Court Firm on the Rios Overturn
At the December 2008 retrial, with that testimony excluded, jurors convicted Rios of second-degree murder rather than first-degree, finding the evidence did not establish the “cool reflection” required for the higher charge. That is why he is now serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole in 2049 rather than life without parole.4Columbia Missourian. Rios Gets Life Sentence for Murder As the Columbia Tribune later put it, two separate juries had by then found him guilty by a combined vote of 24-0.3Columbia Tribune. NBC to Revisit Rios Trial
Appeals Since the Retrial
Rios has pursued every post-conviction avenue available to him, and all have failed.
His direct appeal was decided by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, which affirmed the conviction and sentences on June 29, 2010.6FindLaw. State v. Rios, No. WD 70581
On September 27, 2010, Rios filed a pro se motion for post-conviction relief under Missouri Rule 29.15, arguing that his trial attorney had been ineffective. After appointed counsel amended the motion, a court held an evidentiary hearing and denied relief. Rios appealed that denial, raising five specific claims, including that his lawyer failed to call certain witnesses about police chokehold training, failed to impeach a prosecution witness, and prevented him from testifying on his own behalf. In June 2012, the Missouri Court of Appeals rejected every claim and upheld the conviction.9FindLaw. Rios v. State, No. WD 7393010Columbia Tribune. Appeals Court Upholds Rios Conviction
Rios’s Position and His Family
Rios continues to deny that he killed Valencia. He gave a prison interview that aired in a 2013 KOMU special report, during which he again claimed innocence.11Columbia Tribune. Attention to Rios Spurs Victim’s Mother
His ex-wife, Elizabeth Sullivan, testified for the defense at the retrial, trying to establish an alibi by placing Rios at their home at 5:15 a.m. on the morning of the murder. On cross-examination, the prosecution noted that at the first trial she had put his arrival between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m. Sullivan acknowledged the discrepancy, saying Rios’s former attorney had told her not to change her account because “we don’t want it to look like we’re changing our story.”12Columbia Missourian. Closing Arguments Begin Friday in Rios Murder Retrial1Oxygen. Missouri Cop Steven Rios Killed Jesse Valencia After Affair13NBC News. Steven Rios Prison Visits
Jesse Valencia’s Mother
Jesse Valencia’s mother, Linda Valencia, has pushed back on any public sympathy for Rios. She was motivated to speak out in 2013 after seeing the KOMU interview with him in prison. “That is what aggravates me — when they say he is suffering. I miss my son, too,” she told the Columbia Tribune.11Columbia Tribune. Attention to Rios Spurs Victim’s Mother
She has said she still does not feel justice was fully served and has vowed to keep telling her son’s story. Since the 2004 murder, she has disclosed, she has suffered three strokes and lost Jesse’s remaining personal items in a house fire. She lives in Berryville, Kentucky, where she regularly visits her son’s grave on her farm.11Columbia Tribune. Attention to Rios Spurs Victim’s Mother