"He was a good student. He had average to above-average grades," said Leonor Armstrong, Renteria's former teacher.

The strongest testimony came from a former principal at Mt. Carmel School, which Renteria attended. When Maria Elena Schuerman, an interim principal at the time, took the stand, she testified that Renteria came from a loving family and his behavior showed that.

"He was always attentive, personable, well mannered. I have nothing negative to say about David, back then and now," said Schuerman.

The defense showed the jury an array of awards and certificates earned by Renteria, from scholarships to safety patrol recognitions and others.

A recommendation letter written by Schuerman reads that Renteria was a talented young man with a lot of potential.

Renteria was convicted in 2003 for abducting Flores and dumping her burned body in an open garage near Downtown El Paso. During cross-examination District Attorney Jaime Esparza asked Schuerman why she was on the stand defending Renteria.

"Would you say the boy in 1984 is much different than the man in 2001?" asked Esparza.

"Yes," she replied.

"Would you say the good student you knew in 1984 turned into something else in 2001," asked Esparza.

"Evidently so," she replied before she began to cry.

Esparza also crossed examined Armstrong and asked if she would have predicted that Renteria would be going in and out of jail.

"Would you have predicted he would have committed a brutal murder?"

"No," Armstrong replied.

"A killing of a 5-year-old?"

Armstrong replied, "Not at all."

The jury also heard from Renteria's wife who testified what she remembered from the day Flores was abducted from a Wal-Mart in the Lower Valley.

She said he came home with bruises on his back. She was 4 months pregnant at the time. Their son is now 6 years old.