Local mother seeks justice after daughter was bound, smothered in hotel room

Three people charged in connection with the killing of a 19-year-old appeared in a Dedham courtroom as the victim's mother fights for justice.

The court appearance, a motion to dismiss the hearing for the three defendants involved, comes 617 days after Reina Rodriguez was found murdered in a room at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Braintree.

Prosecutors say the victim, a Backpage escort, was tied up with cell phone cords before she was smothered to death with a pillow.

They say stepbrothers Kentavious Coleman and Kenyonte Galmore set up a date with Rodgriguez, and were seen by an employee and on surveillance footage at the hotel at the time of the murder.

Juana Riveria is accused of orchestrating the whole incident, and Norfolk County prosecutor Pamela Alford described what Riveria allegedly told a witness in the case.

>>MORE: Woman charged in Braintree hotel killing

"They set this up so the two men would go into the room," Alford said. "One bound her and one ransacked the room. A pillow was put over her head because she must have been making noise, and the pillow must have been on there a little too long."

Lawyers for the three defendants say the case is based on hearsay and want the charges to be dropped.

"Testimony of witnesses that were just not credible, who had changed their story, who had received immunity, that was really the only evidence against Mr. Coleman," Tim Bradl, Coleman's attorney, said.

Thursday, Rodriguez's Sigryd Garcia sat just feet from the three people charged in connection with the crime, remembering her daughter after the tragic death.

"She was my best friend, she was a lovely girl, she was beautiful," Garcia said. "She had this beautiful smile."

Garcia said her daughter had a history with Riveria, and said that the case "is not about prostitution. This case is about murder."

"My daughter fought with Juana Riveria," Garcia said. "She promised she was going to kill my daughter."

Thursday's court date was just the start of what's expected to be a difficult case, and Garcia said she will be there every step of the way.

MORE: Police investigating suspicious death at Braintree hotel

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