A Toledo man who attempted to kill his wife will be spending two decades in prison.
Raymond Cervantes, 48, appeared Tuesday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Matt Reger.
He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping, both first-degree felonies, among other charges.
“I don’t remember a lot of things in my life … but I remember meeting you,” said Desiray Liner, who is now Cervantes’ ex-wife.
“I’m so ready to put this behind me and move on” and not relive that horrific night “because I can’t forget what you did,” said Liner, who gave permission to use her name.
“I did not deserve for you to decide my life wasn’t worth living anymore,” she said, adding that no one should have to beg for their life.
Liner said Cervantes, who previously killed her dog, doesn’t care who he harms and should never be allowed in society again.
“My life forward will be affected by what you did to me.”
Liner, who is 40 years old, said she has PTSD, brain damage and memory loss.
She asked for the maximum sentence.
Cervantes,when given the opportunity to speak, turned to Liner and said he was “very sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brian Boos said on Aug. 16, 2020, Cervantes was staying at a home on Five Point Road in Perrysburg when he deliberately cut off his electronic GPS monitor. He sent a message to Liner, to lure her to his location with the promise of paying her for damages incurred from a case in Lucas County.
Liner arrived at the home around 9:30 p.m., and reluctantly exited her vehicle and walked in front of Cervantes into a shed. He slammed the door shut and told her she was going to die that night, Boos said.
Cervantes strangled Liner to the point of unconsciousness. When she came to, she was being dragged but was able to stab the defendant in the leg with a knife. She ran toward her vehicle, but he caught up with her and dragged her back toward the shed at which point he grabbed a C-clamp and “smashed her head several times,” Boos said.
Cervantes destroyed her cell phone in an effort to prevent her from calling for help before pulling her in the passenger seat of her vehicle and driving away. A witness reported seeing Liner crying in the passenger seat, Boos said. This witness called 911.
Cervantes took Liner to a remote location in Henry County, strangled her again, and again said she was going to die that night. He then bludgeoned her with a piece of driftwood. Clumps of hair were found in the wood, Boos said.
“The injuries she sustained … caused memory issues,” he said.
Boos presented photos to Reger, taken the night of the attack, which showed the distortion to Liner’s forehead and swollen eyes.
“But for her fighting back, this would be a different case,” Boos said.
Cervantes also pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault, disrupting public service and tampering with evidence. One count of escape was dismissed.
“I’m always amazed and appalled how one person can treat another person,” Reger said. “There’s no amount of time that this court can impose to assuage the impact this has had on (the victim) in this particular case.”
He sentenced Cervantes to a minimum of 20 years with a maximum of 24 years.
There is a presumption of release after the minimum term, but that can be rebutted by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, which can keep Cervantes incarcerated for the maximum term, Reger said.
This sentence will run concurrent to the minimum 10 years (maximum 15 years) imposed in Henry County in February 2022 for attempted murder and one year imposed in Lucas County in October 2022 for cruelty against a companion animal.
Cervantes, upon his release from prison, will have to enroll as a violent offender for 10 years.
A jury trial was scheduled to start Wednesday, but defense attorney Drew Griffith said he received a call from Cervantes, who is incarcerated in the Richland Correctional Institution, Tuesday morning to discuss a plea.
