MENA'S WIDOW BLAMES POLICE

March 15 - Tired and soft-spoken, the widow of Ismael Mena remained
emphatic: Her husband should not have died at the hands of Denver police.

"It was wrong that they didn't knock," Maria del Carmen Mena said of
the SWAT team raid that left Mena, 45, dead and police admitting they
were at the wrong house.

"I don't think they realize the harm they've done," she said Tuesday
during a press conference at the Mexican Consulate in Denver.

Facing an unfamiliar battery of television cameras and reporters, Mena
politely fielded a slew of questions. While a translator relayed each
query into Mena's native Spanish, her poise and delivery never
wavered; her hands remained neatly folded in her lap.

"I don't know how I'll take care of my kids," she said when asked why
the family is seeking $5.5 million from the city as settlement of a
potential lawsuit. "We don't have any money."

Lawyers for the family and the city will meet Thursday with a mediator
to help determine what each could expect from a jury trial. It's
unclear what the outcome will be, but city attorneys offered the
family $150,000.

"There is an opportunity for Denver to prove it cares about the
innocent victim, but no amount of money will replace Ismael Mena,"
said Carlos Barros, the Mexican consul general who brought Mena and
her eldest son, Heriberto, 21, to Denver. While Barros generally
praised Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas' investigation
into the shooting - a probe that absolved SWAT officers of any
wrongdoing - Heriberto was less than happy with the outcome.

"I want a full investigation and I want (Denver) to pay for what they
did," he said. "Who is going to take care of this family? My mother is
alone the rest of her life."

Mena was working at a local bottling factory for about $8 an hour and
was the family's sole source of income, Maria Mena said. The last time
they spoke, he was planning a visit to the family's ranch in Jalisco,
Mexico, she said. Then, in late September, her sister called with the
news that Ismael had been killed.

"At that moment, I was sad because I couldn't be with him," she said.
"Then I thought, what was I going to tell my children?" She came to
Denver, she said, because she was asked to be here for the
negotiations. It was a difficult decision because it forced her to use
what little savings the family had and, when that ran out, Maria Mena
had to borrow money. She shared a few thoughts and rememberances of
her husband, but tended to lean toward the connection he had with his
children. His visits home were infrequent, but memorable.

"When he'd get home, everyone was happy that he'd be there; the
children would run off to him," Maria Mena said. "He would bring gifts
and candies, and they would be very happy."

Heriberto, a student in Los Angeles, said he now worries about the
days ahead.

"I want a good future for my brothers and sisters, that they won't
have to play on the streets" he said, adding that he has not
considered how he'll tell his youngest sibling, an 8-year-old sister,
about their father and how he died.

"We'll never recoup what we lost," he said.