Christopher Clements, aged 42, has been convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and burglary in the unsettling case of Isabel Celis, a 6-year-old Tucson girl who disappeared from her home in 2012. Jurors at the Pima County Superior Court handed down the verdict on Thursday after beginning their deliberations on Tuesday, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
Already serving a life sentence over the death of Maribel Gonzalez, another Arizona teen slain in 2014, Clements' history of sex crimes, kept hidden from the jurors, spans multiple states and dates back to when the convicted was just 16. Convicted in 2022 for killing Gonzalez, he guided FBI agents in 2017 to the remains of Celis, promising his unrelated burglary charges would drop, although claiming no connection to her death.
The protracted search for justice came to a close after a mistrial last year when jurors failed to come to a verdict. Pinal Central noted the retrial began on Feb 7, with the recent proceedings ultimately swaying the jury. Set for sentencing on March 25, Clements' possible additional punishment remains pending.
The courthouse witnessed the reaction of Celis' family as the verdict was read, with both her mother and brother abruptly leaving the premises, a scene highlighted by Tucson TV station KOLD. Reflecting on the jury's decision, Miller expressed to KOLD that the "jury did a great job sorting through all of the evidence and all of the info we had to reach what we believe was the right result." A follow-up request for comment from Kessler, Clements' attorney, had not been returned immediately.
