Maria Gonzalez

Maria Gonzalez was born and raised in East Los Angeles, in a neighborhood where crime and gang activity were part of daily life. Raised by hardworking immigrant parents, Maria struggled to find her place in the world. She fell into the wrong crowd at a young age, joining a local gang by the time she was 13. What started as running errands for gang members quickly escalated, and Maria found herself deeply entrenched in a world of street violence and crime. Her criminal record is extensive, but most of her offenses were minor—petty theft, drug possession, and street brawls. However, everything changed on a hot summer afternoon when Maria was caught in a gang-related shooting. Though she wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger, a stray bullet hit an innocent bystander, and Maria’s presence at the scene was enough for the courts to convict her of second-degree murder. The trial was brief but intense, with the prosecution arguing that Maria’s long-standing gang affiliation made her complicit in the crime. Witnesses testified that she had instigated the altercation, and her criminal record worked against her. The jury took little time to convict her, sentencing Maria to 25 years in prison, with eligibility for parole after 20 years. Inside Dayspring Correctional Institution, Maria has kept a low profile. Though her reputation as a street-smart fighter precedes her, she prefers to stay out of trouble, working in the prison kitchen and spending her free time reading in the library. She often reflects on the choices that led her to this point, wondering if she could have taken a different path in life.