Pair convicted of killing man in family's view

After the verdict was read, Blanca Moreno gathered her five daughters and waited in the hall to meet the jurors. She wanted to thank the people who had decided the fate of the two men who killed her husband.

When they filed past, Moreno offered a handshake. Some jurors in King County Superior Court clasped her hand, others blinked back tears and embraced her. All of them acknowledged the woman they had seen testify about the worst day of her life.

The second-degree-murder conviction of Edgar Anaya and his brother Sergio yesterday was not a balm that eased Moreno's grief, but it helped close the chapter on a crime that wrecked her family.

"It's just the beginning," she said. "It's never going to be away from us. I just hope we can be in peace."

Antonio Moreno, 36, of White Center, was killed in front of his wife and daughters, bleeding to death on a city street after attending a quinceanera, a traditional Hispanic coming-of-age party for a 15-year-old girl.

The quinceanera took place for a friend of the Morenos at the Alki Masonic Temple on Aug. 21, 1999. Just before the celebration ended, Edgar Anaya, 18, and Sergio Anaya, 21, stopped by and got into a fight with members of a rival gang, charging documents say. The fight was broken up, and the brothers sped away in a white Honda Civic.

The Moreno family left about the same time in their green Chevrolet Suburban and ended up ahead of the brothers, who became impatient with the slower speed Antonio Moreno was driving. In an apparent attempt to pass the Morenos, Sergio Anaya swerved around the Suburban, hitting the door.

At a traffic light, Moreno pulled in front of the Honda and got out to speak with the driver. Sergio Anaya sped away, hitting a street sign.

Finally, the Honda was smoking so badly it wouldn't go any farther, and the driver stopped at Southwest Holden Street and Delridge Way South, where Moreno confronted the brothers about the damage to his Suburban.

Blanca Moreno and three of her daughters, ages 16, 14 and 12, testified they watched the brothers beat and stab Antonio Moreno to death. Edgar Anaya testified he and his brother hit Moreno in self-defense.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 12. The standard range for second-degree murder with a deadly weapon is 13 to 20 years.

Blanca Moreno has been cleaning houses to make ends meet since her husband's death. Her daughters have scholarships to Catholic schools. A citizen of Mexico who is waiting for her green card, Moreno survives on charity, the help of relatives and her husband's Social Security benefits.

Moreno's sister, Maria Castilla, said Antonio Moreno had always wanted sons but maybe it's better he had only daughters. The girls are angry, but there is no thought of taking revenge for Moreno's death.

Girls don't think that way, she said.