Parole denied for woman convicted of killing West Wendover teen

ELKO COUNTY, Nev. (NEWS 4 & Fox 11) — A Nevada woman convicted of second-degree murder in the death of a West Wendover teenager a decade ago has lost her first bid for parole.

Toni Fratto, 28, has been imprisoned since 2012 for her role in the killing of 16-year-old Micaela Constanzo, whose body was found in a shallow grave about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the Utah line.

Elko District Attorney Tyler Ingram told the Elko Daily Free Press on Monday that Fratto’s parole was denied. She had appeared before the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners via a video conference in February.

Kody Cree Patten, 28, was convicted of first-degree murder in Constanzo’s death in 2011 and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Fratto was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years for second-degree murder, but both she and Patten received an additional 8-10 years for the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime.

Prosecutors say the two were involved in a relationship at the time of the killing.

Ingram said if Fratto had been granted parole on the murder charge, she would not have been released from prison, rather she would have started serving the second sentence.

Her next parole hearing is scheduled May 2024.