This is God's will

On February 2, 1995, Mr. Angel Gonzalez Lazcano was found guilty of four counts of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 63 years-to-life and $3,000 restitution. His blood-alcohol content was .13 two hours after the accident and also contained methamphetamine and cocaine.

At the trial Riverside County District Attorney Mike Soccio called 11-year-old Mark Montalvo to the stand.

"It was one of the most dramatic things I had even seen. 'Raise your right hand' and he didn't have one," Soccio says. "And Lazcano too, with all his injuries. Mark was so articulate; it was really incredible."

Lazcano is currently on level three detention at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.

For the first time since I started documenting Mark's recovery, Mrs. Montalvo called me. She wanted to let me know that they had moved again. She also wanted to remind me of Mark's 12th birthday and let me know he was scheduled for another surgery on Easter Sunday.

So, during Spring Break, I made the now-annual pilgrimage from San Francisco to Banning to see how the Montalvos were progressing.

Recently, they received an out-of-court settlement for $750,000 from the Ford Motor Corporation. After the attorney's took their share, Julio and Christina paid cash for a new three-bedroom ranch home in upscale Cherry Valley. They also paid cash for a new Chrysler New Yorker.

Julio used to drive through Cherry Valley and dream of living there. Now, in his backyard he has two horses, a bull, numerous goats and even more chickens.

They are still strong believers in the Pentecostal faith and still attend church three or four times a week. Additionally, they have taken the photographs I have been giving them and made a book. They take Mark and this book to various Pentecostal churches in the area to give testimony to the power of the Lord.

This week they are traveling to Mexicali, Mexico, home of their Pastor.

While Mark and his parents enjoy all the comforts of their new home, Mark is still heavily shielded by his family. Since they moved to Cherry Valley Mark doesn't get to see his best friend, Gordo, very often. It seems that Mark's best friend is his eldest sister, Christina.

When she's not around he either watches TV or plays video games.

Easter weekend, 1995, finds the Montalvo family has moved into their third new home since the accident. This time, however, they're not renting. The Montalvo family has bought a new home, a new Chrysler New Yorker, horses and farm animals with the $750,000 settlement they received from the Ford Motor Corporation.