A Gaithersburg woman was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with 22 years suspended and five years of supervised probation, following her conviction for second-degree murder in the 2023 death of her boyfriend.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County MD, the Honorable Harry Storm sentenced defendant Jennifer Espinoza-Orellana, 23, of Gaithersburg, to 40 years in prison, suspending all but 18 years to serve, and five years of supervised probation upon release. On November 18, 2024, a jury convicted Espinoza-Orellana of second-degree murder for the death of her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jose Manuel Zavala Marquez.”
On Sunday, September 10, 2023, at approximately 5:30 a.m., the defendant dropped the victim’s body off at Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in the 9900 block of Medical Center Drive in Rockville. Zavala Marquez had been stabbed in the chest. An investigation by homicide detectives with Montgomery County Police revealed Espinoza-Orellana and Zavala Marquez had an argument at her home along the 8000 block of Shady Spring Drive in Gaithersburg. She followed him outside and stabbed him in the chest with a knife she pulled from a knife block in the kitchen. The knife went through his sternum and pierced his heart. The approximate time of the stabbing was just before 1:15 a.m. Espinoza-Orellana did not immediately seek medical aid for the victim. She instead placed Zavala Marquez in her vehicle and drove to the home of a family member. From there, she drove to a park to meet up with another individual. At least four hours passed before she drove to the medical center and dropped off the victim’s body.
Espinoza-Orellana returned to the hospital at approximately 8 a.m. She was questioned by police and provided false information, lying about the events leading up to and following the victim’s death.
