Mother sentenced to 45 years in prison for torture death of 5-year-old daughter

all right the court is calling 2022 CR 4248 B state of Texas versus Katrina Rose Mendoza can I have parties announced for the record for the state Britney Mitchell and Ali defense good afternoon your honor I'm Todd McCrae for Katrina Mendoza all right we are here for cening you entered a plea on August 7th 2023 to count one paragraph B of guilty the state weighed without objections count 1 paragraph a counts 3 2 4 and 5 the court found there was sufficient evidence to find you guilty how the court deferred finding of guilt as you had applied for uh probation according to the plea bargain agreement punishment is be assessed at a cap of 45 years in the prison there is an affirmative finding of Family Violence and the state opposes your application for deferred adjudication have both parties had a chance to review the PSI report State yes defense yes your honor any objections to the PSI report State no defense no your honor all right and uh the defense council did email to the court a report by uh Dr Murphy uh he included the state in that email as well uh neither party had any objections the court reviewing that before sentencing and Court's understanding both parties wanted to make sure that I had reviewed that is that correct that's correct your yes all right so the court has uh reviewed the documents that you supplied Defence uh state do you have any Witnesses yes your honor we would call cind all right if you come for please all right uh defense do you have witnesses in the room yes um Mr belron and Mr Mendoza all right Mr uh beltron and Mr Mendoza the rule has been invoked what that means is you can't view anything about this case ah sorry the rule has been invoked what that means is you cannot review anything about this case you can't watch Witnesses testimony do you understand all right do you understand sir all right thank you when when they testify you don't have to go into the hallway yeah all right so if you wait in the hallway all right could you raise your right hand for me please do you Solly swear and affirm the testimony your Gil would be the truth and nothing but the truth so help you got yes sir all right you can lower your hand have a seats make sure you keep your voice up so that I can hear court reporter can hear and the attorneys can here state your name for the record Cindy Lima all right good afternoon Miss L um how are you present employed I'm an investigator supervisor with child Predictive Services and how long have you Services going over 10 years do you know an individual named krina Rose yes do yes uh she's wearing uh red and the pink uh sandals um how are you um my first encounter with her was in 2018 when I investigated a case of abuse or neglect of her children and and who her children uh Mercedes uh and um Jordan Lo and who was the subject of that of the two children was the suspected child Mercedes Lya and when you investigated that did you meet with the girls I did did you meet with I did how many times you estimate that you met with them maybe seven eight times did you talk to krina about to a yes was that a brief conversation or was something L lengthy conversations several times different days what about cles didina toes CS yes and what kind of classes did that uh she was uh during the the 2018 case she was referred for ongoing services with the Department uh meaning that she needed to go through parenting uh drug treatment drug uh assessments uh and anything else that the department recommended at that time and your knowledge that she complete those I believe she did at any time were Mercedes and Jordan removed from yes when was that back in 20 uh 2016 and what was the reason for that uh Mercedes was deemed U failed to thrive um and there was physical neglect in the home and um they were not able to care for the children and then said you had the cas in 2018 correct correct were there any other cases filed with CPS prior to 2022 yes how many six um were you involved in any capacity yes how so I was involved in the last case prior to Mercedes passing um when was the final case that was filed was that it was November 27 2021 and what if anything happened with that case um they were different referrals that the department would receive um we were attempting to meet with the mother um I think that we met with Mom a total of four times um each time we were able to see the children and the mother um and we were trying to come up with some resolution on her case uh we set up something that's called a family team meeting to be able to get um her support network to see what was going on uh they were several concerns during that case in that we needed the Family Support to be present uh in order for us to know what to do next with her case in any of those meetings did Katrina ever express that her one or both of her girls were getting abused no did the girls ever outry no um in general what was the behavior of the girls um just happy children um very bonded um nothing that we could have seen the name Jose ever no when was the last time that CPS was able to see the girls the last time that CPS saw the children was uh January 19 of 2022 and where were the girls supposed to be living at the hmark uh Hmart beltran's home the god parents I'm sorry just one second could you repeat that please hmar uh Beltran he is the god parent to Katrina andoa and so krina girls were supposed to be living correct said january2 last other dates that were planned at that time yes what was that um it was January 25th of 2022 and is that CPS did not the because um that's when the mother and U Mr belron got into an altercation and the mom left the CH left with the children from that residence um at that time did you have any specific concerns about it yes what were those um the family members began to speak and said uh that they had concerns with Katrina and her parenting um in the way that she treated her children did you know where she went with the girls no did you at any time learn about a boyfriend uh yeah it was that day that we learned about a boyfriend and the only name given was Jose um what attempts they were there to find the girls we tried every address that we could possibly tried we tried any phone numbers that we had had from for Katrina since she had changed different numbers throughout the case uh we tried going to the schools to see if the children would show up at school um we did everything we could possibly do uh we have something that's called uh UTC checklist uh which we have to complete in order for us to obtain um any CPS records any records from sauce uh anything from uh the community that can give us uh access to other addresses to find the children and the mother on January 25th was there any communication uh she had asked to reschedule the family team meeting to um February 2nd 2022 and what happened on February 2 nobody showed up and what day was the uh it was February 7th 20122 started investigating thisas U Back In 2019 or what you described as fa to thrive what would you define that yeah in 2016 there was an investigation uh that was uh deemed uh that the mother and the father were deemed um neglectful for uh physical neglect of their own children what is what what did you discover was the neglect um Mercedes was uh failed to thrive meaning that she wasn't getting uh enough feedings and she wasn't excuse me she wasn't being fed and she wasn't getting enough nutrients on her body so her body was um not thriving okay what was there any you call that neglectful failing to thrive was did you did you discover any physically assaulted type injuries at that time I didn't personally investigate that case okay well I thought you first got involved in 2019 2018 2018 I wrote down 2019 so but what were you investigating in 2018 it was uh a physical abuse case and and what was the ultimate ruling in that case um it was reason to believe meaning guilty of uh physical abuse was that the handprint case correct okay and I think the court heard about that during the jury trial um and then moving forward when was the next investigation the one that I uh was supervising was in 20 uh 21 November 27 2021 21 what were you investigating physical abuse concerns of physical abuse and okay what was that um the we received different concerns uh with the way that Katrina would parent her children um and concerns that she was leaving bruises on the children you discovered some bruises there was a bruise found on Mercedes at the beginning of the case um the children were able to explain how that injury was obtained um and what was the conclusion it was it was non-specific for abuse okay and then moving forward the next investigation that was the investigation prior to the child death okay all right and what were your concerns at that point in time we kept receiving concerns from different people uh with the same allegations you know stating that the mother was being uh abusive to her children that they would get spankings um marks on their bodies do you see any marks no okay but you were investigating these concerns correct okay and then you've testified uh previously about the sequence of events and the scheduling that never took place because Miss Mendoza never showed up is that right correct okay and when when you say that you were doing everything you could to loc the children and Katrina and you said you went to addresses and you went to uh you made telephone calls did you go by Mr Bel tron's house yes and is that when you discovered that she wasn't there with the children correct we we already had been I mean we've been talking to him so he had told us that they had left that day on the 25th right and there was some kind of disagreement between them precipitated for leing correct and you you just testified that your opinion when you observe the girls Mercedes and uh Jordan that they appear to be happy bonded children is that characterization that's what it shows in the pictures okay and was that your personal observation and conclusion I didn't personally see them this last time in 2021 okay so you're referring to a report that reflects that they were happy bonded children correct okay and so something drastically went wrong towards the very end correct okay I'll pass away this CPS yes no I have a question if there are no objections no objection all right did she ever complete parenting classes in PR cases all right successfully completed it yes now with regards to the January 19th date where I think you stated she was living at with Homer beltron correct was that a safety plan no we we only went to see them uh to follow up with them all right so did you ever call the police to help locate the children uh not not after the after knowing that uh they had not been found we had to go through a procedure in order for us to you know get help from law enforcement so on January 25th 2022 was the police ever called I believe that the police was called to Mr vr's home to locate the children no due to the altercation that they had all right so did CPS have concerns about the children when Miss Mendoza left Mr Bel tron's home with the children yes all right so when the police show up to Mr Bel tron's home were you present for that or no no all right did you ever reach out to the police after uh the incident with Mr beltron no okay all right any other and she was never placed during this time period of 202 to she was never placed in family Based Services all right any other questions all right uh the rule has been invoked what that means you can't discuss your testimony with anyone the only persons you allowed to speak to our attorneys for the state or the defense and they will let you know if they intend to recall you is she excused or is anybody anticipating recalling her she's excused from all right thank you state call your next witness calls all right if you'll take a seat here please can you raise your right hand we solemnly swear affirm that testimony deal will be the truth that nothing but the truth so help you guys yes ma'am all right you can lower your hand make sure you keep your voice up so that attorneys can hear and the court reported myself if you'll state your name for the record Emily Lya right say good afternoon Miss good afternoon how do you know krina um she is the mother of my great nieces Mercedes and Jordan if you sorry is that better and um how are you related to Mercedes um I am their great aunt um Alfred is my nephew and did you know um I believe I met her a few times before and was that because she was dating your neew yes ma'am um when did you first meet Mercedes um shortly after she was born with Katrina um did you ever devel any kind of relationship yes and did you have similarities a lot um um she was young when she started dating my nephew and I felt that she was just trying to like look for Comfort or love and when I was younger I was like that um another thing was that she had her kids like back to back and I had two daughters 10 months apart so I was those were the saries that I saw um did you was there ever a point where you became a fixture in Katrina and Mercedes and Jordan's life I believe so yes you believe so yes yes how often would you see mer um I don't know like how to say it like throughout the years I would just try to be as involved as I could um I would always just reach out and see how they were doing um I would either go to wherever she was staying Katrina was staying and see them or they would come over to my house did they ever stay at your house yes how often did that um quite often was there ever a time that you offered specifically offered help to the TR yes when was the first um I believe when mer Mercedes was probably like a year or between a year and 18 months um and she had they had stayed with me and I just offered the help um I just saw that it was you know stressful and hard for her as a young mom and so I offer to help her with them did you ever offer to take her yes when did you offer that um I wouldn't say like um to take her I would just say like I would help her with with um Mercedes or even Jordan but um whenever I saw she was stressed or she had a lot going on I would offer that to her how did krina Tre hers um I never could see like that they were treated the same um I know that she had a closer bond with Jordan than she did Mercedes um she wouldn't like abuse them in front of me I wouldn't ever see anything like that um I just saw a lot of like her pushing Mercedes away like um verbally like oh just go over there or like she would show love to Jordan and not a lot to Mercedes um so those are the differences between them two did you ever question her why she treated them yeah I mean I would always like Wonder and and voice my opinions but she would always just say like oh I don't do that or um just never gave me like a direct answer um now to December of 2021 did you have a conversation with krina about Merc yes and how did that conversation um I was at school and I remember she called me and um at first I thought it was just a normal conversation until um she just started telling me some of the things that she was doing um to Mercedes that I couldn't I couldn't believe that she was admitting to um she kind of like tried to brush it off like it wasn't a big deal but it was a concern for me and so the conversation was just just her saying that she was tired of Mercedes and that um Mercedes would just cry for no reason and she was bad and um that she had that she had stayed with her boyfriend but they caught the cops cuz she Mercedes was crying and um I asked her like they're not going to just call the cops cuz she's crying like what's going on and she's just like you know how she is is and so um I just asked her like what was going on and she kind of just said the same thing over and over that Mercedes would just overreact to little things and that she would cry like if somebody was hurting her you off any yeah um I had sent her a text message and I asked her um I said if you need help with Mercedes for two weeks cuz that's what she had mentioned in our conversation that she just needed two weeks away and um so I messaged her and I was like hey if you ever need somebody to take Mercedes for 2 weeks let me know and I'll take her like I don't want nothing from you um no judgment nothing I just drop her off with me and and that's it and she told me thank you and then never reached out again again it's fair to say that you knew I mean at this time how old was krina she was still a minor yes yes and and she had those girls eight months apart M um and you testified earlier that you knew from personal experience how hard raising two children is on a young mom correct and what you're testifying to is the difficulties that this young mother was having raising the two the two young girls while she was a young girl herself is that fair to say yes and and your testimony is is that you wanted to help her correct how old were you at the time I don't probably like 25 26 and been what 14 or 15 MH okay so and but you didn't your your contact was intermittent is that fair to say yeah nothing further just to clarify um do you recall how old um I don't know like 14 15 so you were talking about when the girls oh yeah did you ever offer to yes when was last I'm not sure if it was late November or early December but somewhere around that time of the year before she passed right I just have a question yes any objection all right you stated I believe and correct me if I'm wrong that you had a conversation with Miss Mendoza around December 2021 about Mercedes and you said that she was saying she was having some sort of issues with Mercedes yes and one of those I believe you said that Mercedes would cry somebody was hurting her what did you mean by that what was the conversation to that um because she had said that they weren't able to go back to her boyfriend's house because they were continuously calling the cops on her and they were just calling the cops on her a lot of times and so she her boyfriend didn't want her there so I asked her why the cops were being called and she said that Mercedes was crying like if somebody were hurting her oh as like someone was hurting okay all right that cleared that out for me thank you any other questions no is this witness excused yes yes sir all right the rule has been invoked what that means is you can't discuss your testimony with anyone or view anything the only persons you're allowed to speak to are attorneys for the state of the defense yes ma'am thank you you may step down state call your next witness defense do you have any Witnesses yes your honor two briefly I'll call Homer belron all right and should I go uh hallway it should be all right Marina could you have uh Homer belon come in please thank you all right so is this the Homer beltron that everybody's been speaking about yes all right does he meet an attorney all right do you have his number your H he's a little hard to hearing so maybe he misinterpreted what the court said about the rule okay hopefully he didn't leave all right but uh my my other concern is and we're off the record my concern is does he need an attorney because they mention and I read in the doctor's report there was some incident at his home involving your client I don't think so your honor I don't believe okay uh if you want to walk down the hallway you're more than welcome to do so sure all right and what is happening with the other defendant that's the def said he was looking at something on BL we just to move oh no no no I understand so on Bloss heris you still talking to him okay all right they're here all right and depy Laura just give me two minutes I'm going to check with my mom e moment oh for yes you have to wait in the hallway my okay yeah for off say totally contr sit it'sing here at Mark we didn't have a head e e e all right all right everyone please be seated all right uh defense your witness is available yes ma'am Mr beltron is in the court your honor all right Mr beltron if you'll come forward and take the stand please Jud he's a little hard hearing so we're going to have to keep our voices so he can hear sure all right everyone no Whispering good afternoon could you raise your right hand for me please pleas solemnly swear and affirm the testimony we give would be the truth that nothing but the truth so you ma'am yes ma'am all right you can lower your hand okay everyone the tone that I'm using that's the tone everyone should use so that he'll be able to hear if somebody asks you something and you don't hear them just let us know okay okay all right if you'll stit your name for the record pleas it's Homer belan defense so Mr belon that microphone right there if you'll scoot up so we can all hear you really well we'll try to keep our voices up can you hear me now good a little bit higher okay uh your Homer belon how do you know Katrina Mendo she's my goddaughter okay and did she live with you for a period of time yes off and on and who was there living with you uh During the period of time that she was living with you who else was in my daughter on helica Edwards and Rodney Edwards and who's that Rodney Edwards who's that that's my son-in-law and was your was your wife there as well oh yes what's her name uh Margarita belron and I'm sorry to have to say this but she did during virus yes okay and was there a period of time where Katrina was designated to be living with you with Jordan and Mercedes yes by CPS uh yes were you aware that she was supposed to be living there what was the question again were you aware that that's where she was supposed to be residing her the CPS orders uh I don't remember I I think so okay and at some point she left the home where she was living there with you yes and she went to live uh independently by yourself yes so Mr beltron uh did you do you consider Katrina to be your daughter yes I do and consider Mercedes to be your granddaughter yes I do and Jordan to be your granddaughter I love them all and is that why you took Katrina into your own home yes and how do you feel about the tragedy that has happened with the death of Mercedes and who's your granddaughter and the fact that Jordan has been essentially removed from Katrina's custody and is now in the custody of a great great grand great great great grandmother doated all right that'll be a ruled okay so how do you feel about this I'm devastated okay and the judge has to make a decision today about how to sence Katrina and I want to ask you uh in your opinion based on what you saw did Katrina love Jordan and Mercedes yes you did they never lacked they always had what they needed and although she had some CPS investigations going on during the course of the time before she met Jose relise were you aware of the CPS investigations uh yes um did you ever see uh Katrina Abus physically either one of the girls no and how how how close was she to both of these girls how what no close emotionally close oh very close Okay uh did you see inappropriate parenting no okay uh were you surprised to hear about the circumstances resulted in Mercedes death yes I was and were you surprised to hear about the circumstances that occurred when Katrina was living during a two to three week period of time with Jose relise can you ask me again please yes uh was Katrina I'll I'll just ask another question did you ever meet Jose Ruiz yes how many times I think it was like two times and what was your impression with him for those two times I really didn't meet him for a long time just maybe 10 15 minutes I was about it but nothing contact you know just walk by high Okay so you understand that Katrina has accepted responsibility for uh not seeking appropriate medical help for Mercedes During the period of time that she was living with Jose releas M did that surprise you that she didn't seek medical treatment for Mercedes yes it does and did you see any kind of behavior like that not seeking appropriate help for Mercedes or Jordan before she started becoming involved with Jose Ruiz well she was a very private girl you know I didn't really see too much of her you know I thought the girls happy or whatever you know but I didn't see too much of that okay uh but everything you saw LED you to believe that she was a good mother to those girls yes I'll pass away okay um I'll try to speak loud for you Mr um isn't it true that krina favored Jordan yeah in fact you told police that on January 25 2022 when they went out to the house what was that again in fact you told police that when Mercedes left with Jose onary 2022 yes is I'm sorry is your answer yes okay do you recall telling police on January 25th that Kina did not like Mercedes she favored her is that yes yes now when the police came out on January 25th 2022 you were upset correct yes and you were upset because had taken Mercedes is that correct been a long time yes I know and you had concerns you expressed concerns for Mercedes on that day didn't you yes I did my spirit told me that she was in danger I'm a man of God so I just felt it in my spirit that that she was in danger and in fact didn't you used to tell krina to be careful before something bad would happen yes I'll pass but I want to make sure we're clear about this U you said that Katrina favored uh Mercedes that's not the same as she didn't like Mercedes exactly so it's not that she didn't like Mercedes it's that she favored over Mercedes MH could you say how that manifested I don't know what made you feel that way it's like I don't know how to explain this um but like I'm going to take you to the store and I'm not going to take her or little things like that not not physically abusive in any way I never saw that okay and when you say that when Merced when Jose came and took Mercedes you had a feeling that something bad was happening yes is that sort of a spiritual intuition that you're describing I'm going say is it spiritual is it was it an intuition what was it based on it was just a feeling just a feeling a feeling of of of uh being scared and fear was that about Jose himself it it was about Mercedes okay you felt like by her being taken by Jose that I felt the fear in Mercedes and was she acting in a certain way or you just felt this she was crying she didn't want to go with Jose no she was crying I I mean she didn't resist not wanting to go with him and she was crying why was she crying I have no idea so the court has to decide whether to incarcerate Katrina your daughter or give her a community supervision which would you like the court to do I would say a community supervision because I always told her if you need help you know look for the help it's there for you to get help do you believe that Katrina would accept the help if it was offered to her albe it a little too late for Mercedes but would she accept the help now to get the help she needs I think so issues yes I'll pass I have a couple of questions no objections no objections all right if you could address for me why did you have an issue concerned about Mercedes going with Jose I just felt that in my spirit okay and then when Miss Mendoza was staying with you uhhuh with the children yes was that based upon child protected services asking for you to have them stay with you um kind of don't remember um well how how did she come to live with you why was she living with you with her children I guess she didn't have a place to stay or a long time so were you aware that child protective services was involved in her life yes all right I think we had a meeting with them one time also okay so what is your understanding as to why her and the children were placed with you why not somebody else why with you well eventually I was supposed to adopt her adopt who Katrina okay and so when she was a baby we had her for about seven or eight years so she was my daughter so when all this was happening of course you know you want to protect and did you ever call the police or or CPS with your concerns about uh the spiritual intuition you had in regards to Mercedes well when CPS came over I told him I said you y'all need to you really need to because I feel so strong in my spirit that she's in danger okay all right any other questions no no all right thank you the rul has been B you can't discuss your testimony with anyone except for attorneys for the state of the defense you have a blessed day all right thank you you have a blessed day too uh defense call your next witness GRE your hon all right could someone call in the hallway for Rudy Mendoza all right could you raise your right hand for me please do you solemnly swear affirm the testimony you give will be the truth that nothing but the truth so help you God yes I do all right you can lower your hand if you'll state your name for the record my name is rudol Mosa all right defense your honor Mr Mendoza uh you're the father of Katrina Mendoza yes sir and Jordan and Mercedes are your two granddaughters yes sir and we know that Mercedes has passed away and we know that Jordan has been placed in the custody of a great great great grandmother how do you feel about this I feel really hurt cuz um I miss her and miss my granddaughters both I love them both I took care of them the best that I could and then I really am brokenhearted from all this did you ever meet Jose release no sir I never did and uh prior to you remember the period of time when Katrina about a two week two to three week period of time when Katrina went to live with Jose Ruiz no sir you don't remember when she went to live with him I didn't even know the man okay okay but you know the period right uh the two or 3 week period right before Mercedes passed away no did I know about it well let me ask you this let me just back up how how was krina with around Mercedes and Jordan as a mother to me she was a loving mother she took care of Kiss she was always with them she see them at the zoo and parks and stuff like that she always had pictures of them you know what they're at the park enjoying themselves Jack you showed me your cell phone out in the hallway yes sir had picture after picture picture of krina with Jordan and Mercedes yes sir how did they all three look in those pictures happy is that a fair description of how Katrina was around her two daughters yes sir uh were the two your two granddaughters always happy to be around yes did you ever know her to physically abuse them no sir and did you know about the CPS investigations that were going on no I didn't okay um the judge has to make make a decision today about whether to incarcerate Katrina or place her on a form of Community Supervision which would you like the court to do well I would ask the court to have mercy upon her compassion you know be kind of leaning with her because she was young yes and sometimes young you know young kids do wrong things and stuff like that but I would you know Grant see if the judge and the mercies of the mercies of the court to find her may be deferred okay Mr you said sometimes young kids make mistakes right yes ma'am are you saying what happened with Mercedes was a mistake no ma'am not at all this wasn't some young kid that made a mistake was I understand that you understand that Mercedes wasused that she was tortured and your daughter did I understand that but like I said I had no knowledge of that are you aware that she's said that she reached out to you yes ma'am how did she reach out to you she asked she asked me that uh if I uh if I could help her in taking the the Mercedes and I said yes and from then I never heard from her again she never reached back out to you did she no you would have come and gotten Mercedes excuse me you would have come and Mercedes if you could oh of course Mercedes was my little girl were you aware that Katrina and others um well that others had noticed and Katrina had even admitted that had a Jordan over Mercedes yes I did did you see that as well sometime not all the time did you know that krina had a a psychological exam in this case no how did this manifest the preference for Jordan over Mercedes how did that take place I think that it would take place in a way that she probably will give more things to Jordan than than Mercedes like uh like in sharing things you know like in candies or sodas or stuff like that it wasn't it didn't rise to the level of abuse no she just had a natural preference for Mercedes yes all right I have one question any objections no no objection all right just stated that uh you offered to take Mercedes when was this I think it was back in like in January is that January 2022 M yes all right and did you ever receive any more contact from Miss Mendoza for you to take Mercedes or no no ma'am not at all after that I wanted to because I really wanted to get my Grandin both not just one both all right did you inform Miss Mendoza that you would only take both yes all right so according to your testimony you're saying that you were offered to take Mercedes no no ma'am I would offer to take both of them not just Mercedes oh okay that clears it up all right thank you any other questions no no you all right thank you you may step down the rule has been invoked thank you man any other Witnesses in rest all right Court will hear a brief argument State all right defense don't a little bit of and sure and you can remain seated so that the cour report can hear I don't take it as a sign of disrespect very good um so Jud uh the court knows this from many years of experience I know the court has served both as a prosecutor man as defense attorney and is uh well aware of the punishment options the punishment theories that we have in the Texas fode so the court can obviously punish uh M Mendoza or the court could look at a form of Rehabilitation for Miss Mendoza um I'd like to back up to the first time that I met Miss and I've represented her for a number of years and I'd like to say that during the course of the attorney client relationship with missa she has always been open honest straightforward and truthful with me I I never felt that she was trying to hide anything I never felt that she was trying to protect herself in any way uh she entered a plea a timely plea I believe before the court she entered a guilty plea she aded to uh causing these serious vient injuries by Omission uh she agreed to testify at the Jose Lise trial uh and she did testify at the Jose R trial uh I think that's significant that she would do that um and it wasn't just to get the flea baring agreement I think she uh felt like it was one way that she could um take a step forward and be a better person than the kind of person that she was during the 3 week period of time she was with is Jose Lise she also spent quite a bit of time with the District Attorney's Office debriefing her story uh I think we spent maybe maybe as much as eight hours um in the district attorney's office uh talking to miss Mendoza about every aspect in detail in this case uh the court has before it U not only the trial because judge you presided over the trial was a releas and you heard Miss's testimony uh directly from her and you have the PSI uh where Miss Mendoza has spoken to probation department and I'd like to say that during all of these encounters with different the different processes here in the judicial system in my opinion Katrina Mendoza has been open honest and and has testified to the best of her ability um and that's including the statements that she made to the probation department statements that she made in front of the jury and most recently the state the statements that she made during her clinical evaluation by Joanne Murphy Dr Murphy who did a clinical evaluation and has written a 32 page psychological evaluation which the court has before it um concerning that report I'd like to emphasize uh three aspects of that report uh it would take too long to go through it in a lot of detail but one um Dr Murphy feels that Katrina just like I feel has been open and honest in her uh clinical evaluation uh Dr Murphy felt like Katrina was uh honest to a fa to the extent that she had to admit things about herself that uh people don't like to say about themselves and Katrina was open enough and brave enough to be able to grow her own self under the bus so to speak uh the second thing that I'd like to emphasize about this report and it was also something that Dr Murphy emphasized is uh and I don't mean this out of any disrespect at all but intellectually Katrina is uh what Dr Murphy describes as well below average intelligence and we've seen people your honor in the court system for a long time where people with well below average intelligence levels are able to function in the world pretty well and uh they uh get along as best they can with the limitations that they have but I think it is significant that Dr Murphy has found that Katrina's intelligence excuse me intelligence level is well below average and specifically in C works and that's a result of a clinical evaluation and the reason that's significant is because uh Katrina was in a 3 we period of time found your in a very God willing none of us have to be in a situation like that H and um she in a in a way she would have had to figure out a way to think herself out of the Trap that she found herself in and we're not offering below average intelligence as any kind of Defense but we'd like the court to consider that and deciding what the appropriate outcome would be on top of that um your honors uh Dr Murphy felt like that Katrina did not know that these injuries at the time they were being inflicted all the way up until the very end when uh Mercedes stopped breathing that her life was in danger now ordinarily your honor uh given the the horrible nature of what we've heard at the jury problem and what we can see from the investigation uh you was I guess Common Sense would be that that you would you would think that these injuries would rise to the level of causing death if you look at the autopsy and you remember the testimony of the medical examiner there was a big question about the cause of death for quite quite a long period of time and so Dr Murphy felt like that at no time did Katrina feel like the injuries that she she did see inflicted and that she omitted to seek help for Rose to the level of endangering her life and so Dr Murphy found that to be significant um another significant factor in in evaluating Katrina one the fact that she was truthful two the below average intelligence and three that she didn't realize that these injuries were life cor uh I I would like to emphasize is also something that didn't show up in the jury trial too much it might have shown up in the uh in pre-trial herings I know it shows up in the prosecution but Jose Rel had guns in that house and there were guns all over the house and there are specific instances where he took the girls and Katrina into a closet when the poli police were knocking on the door and held him at gunpoint and said you're going to be quiet you're not going to answer that door so there was not only this the psychological abuse and the physical abuse obviously Mercedes was being physically abused but psychologically Katrina was being abused by the physical abuse that Jose was inflicting on Mercedes and this has risen to a level your honor where Dr Murphy has diagnosed Kina up with two serious mental illnesses one uh major depression and two post atic excuse me post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD and I think both of these mental illnesses and you can see from the case history go back way back in time your to a point in time where the reports reflect that Katrina was uh at one point after her mother and father separated she was living with her mother and she was abused not only by her mother physically but she was also abused sexually about his stepfather and she reported this to his her mother and her mother just swept it under the rug and U and didn't seek an investigation and in fact talk you're out of reporting it later on krina reported the counselor at the school and the authorities got involved and again her mother sat down with her and told her don't do this and so the investigation languished uh you can also see the report your honor uh and we're not trying to normalize anything at all that Jose who did but Katrina witnessed behaviors uh sort of like some of the ways that Jose Luis was disciplined disciplining Mercedes kneeling on uh rice for example that's something that Katrina saw when she was living with her mother also holding up objects that's something Katrina saw as a young girl and her 's uh home we we also know your honor from and the court may not be aware of this but her mother was investigating for the death of uh one of Katrina's Step Brothers and he was abused uh to such an extent he eventually passed away and an investigation was conducted and uh for some reason it never made it to an indictment and but that is part of the background where Katrina was raised like this in in abusive situations she never got any help for it she never got any counseling for it and so for her to be able to say these things uh about her life and to be open and honest I think shows her honesty with the court um she also had these children very young onor and and in that report the clinical evaluation she says that she never knew that she was is supposed to be having sex at this young age and she had those two children very young they were only 8 months apart uh she was a minor most of the time when these CPS investigations were going on and and I think it's remarkable that the state is actually sponsored CPS worker who says that the reports reflect that the children were happy and bonded um and there were some incidences that it had to do with reports that were eventually ruled out and I and I think the court remembers from the jury trial the the hand uh Mark episode that happened in the Medicare Center and that was eventually red out and and CPS investigation was closed so um judge um you know I was I was raised in a in a family where none of this was normalized at all and uh I can't imagine growing up in in circumstances like this and and judge this is not an excuse for Katrina at all we're not offering this as an excuse she she has told the court that she feels responsible she told the jury that she had the courage to come in here and I know she was nervous you could see her leg moving up and down pretty much the whole time but she did her best to be grief with the state she did her best to in front of that jury she did her best to talk to to to judge uh to Dr Murphy and ultimately Dr Murphy concludes this she says this young woman needs some help she needs psychological help she is open and uh willing to accept that help and incarceration is not going to address the psychological needs that she need that she has and if you look at the scales in terms of her RIS defending or doing anything like this ever again in her life she's she's at very low end of all the evaluation scales so there's no scales there in in terms of the testing that Dr Murphy did that indicate that she's a high risk in any areas where the court should be concerned if she's placed on Community Supervision uh I think she's an appropriate candidate for for uh Community Supervision and uh Dr Murphy thinks that she would be a good candidate for uh for Community Supervision we would ask the court to place her on the community supervision and place her in the mental health uh U case load so that she gets counseling so that she gets any any kind of medication that she needs uh there's some statements in there in the PSI that I wanted to address where Katrina is still verbalizing uh her love for Jordan and expecting that she could go and be an appropriate parent I counseled her about that and she understands that because her parental rights have been terminated if the corporate to Grant a community supervision or if she has to go to prison then she's not going to be permitted to have any contact at all with Jordan unfortunately uh and she understands that she didn't understand it at the time of PSI but again in the PSI she has again stated that she knows this is her fault and if you look at Dr Murphy's uh evaluation she Dr Murphy says that she feels so bad about what happened and how she knows that she is indirectly and even directly responsible for Mercedes passing away and for the fact that Jordan has been removed from her custody that she keeps this on herself and she feels like God has abandoned her she feels depressed she feels sorry and regretful and uh I I don't know any other way to say it other than the way she said it in front of that jury of 12 people when she testified and I can't say any better than her uh words in the PSI I can't say any better than her words in Dr Murphy's uh report I I didn't plan to call her as a witness because I think she has already testified before the court I think she's given you her her heart in the clinical evaluation and I think she although she didn't discuss details uh in the PSI she was Frank and open and honest with the the PSI people about uh her own uh responsibility for what happened and I'll tell you judge I can't think of anything worse than a mother losing her children she broken heart and I know she does her heart's broken and and there's no punishment the court could do to her even 45 years in prison that's going to undo that broken heart and but I'd like the court to see her as a young woman who and I wish you could have seen those pictures of her and the two girls are Mr M's phone because if you saw those pictures those girls were happy and Katrina and if you know Katrina Katrina would never have abused those children I think what happened is that she got into this a with Jose ruise and Jose Ru uh created such a uh a little room of Horrors that she psychologically and mentally was incapable and she should have been and she knows that she's responsible for not she had every opportunity she could and the court knows that she could have called CPS she could have called the San Antonio Police Department she even talked to her father on the telephone during this period of time so she did have options but let me tell you she was suffering from PTSD she was suffering from depression and she was suffering from the psychological abuse of what he was doing to her daughters and she should have stopped it and she knows that but if you saw the the body cam of how she was at the hospital when they told her that Mercedes had passed away and that Jose was call calling her the phone saying I want my phone bring me that phone you would see a young woman who was in the in the middle of the PTSD episode it was heartbreaking to see to see that and to see her on the body cam uh suffering the suffering from the knowledge that her uh that her child had passed away and and and trying to trying to Fathom what had just happened and and you could see her kind of in this PTSD type mode almost a boldar type mode just not being able to comprehend not being in able to understand why was was doing this and trying to comprehend the fact that she had lost lost her daughter so my plea to the court would be to Grant her the defer judication I I understand that's a hard decision for the court given the the evidence in this case but I do think it would be the right thing to do for her and Court feels that rather than Rehabilitation the appropriate thing for Katrina is to punish her we would ask the court not to punish her like Jose Mendoza but for court to take into consideration the things that the court has before it in PSI and Dr Murphy's report and find uh an appropriate sentence in the lower end that the uh the r court has available to thank you for your time and patience Dr okay I have uh four questions Council maybe you can answer them and it's concerning Dr Murphy's report so on page four it states that M mosa said she's an imperfect parent but she used timeouts to discipline her children but the testimony I heard during the trial that she was using more than timeouts so if you can address that and then on page seven uh she said the girls are not registered in in school because the girls would cry and she did not like seeing them hurt so she would keep them with her because they would cry when they would go to school and then the other one is on page8 the first incomplete paragraph where it says Katrina told her dad that she did not want him to see Mercedes like this because he would call the cops on her her dad asked her to tell him where she was so he could go help her she got scared and did not tell him where she was and then the other issue is from what I'm reading in Dr uh Murphy's reporting the testimony from your client on the witness stand is that she sent Mercedes to be disciplined by Jose and the first time she sent her to be disciplined she came back and she had bruising between the inner thigh and that was my understanding before they were even living together so those are the issues that the court needs address if you can if not I understand uh that first point judge where where what was your uh on page four the first incomplete paragraph where it says she considers herself to be an imperfect parent she used timeouts to discipline her children but there was testimony I'm trying to figure out where did this come in our conversation perhaps with Dr Murphy because in her testimony she had she admitted to pulling Mercedes hair right judge I I think uh my Global answer to all four of the Court's concerns is that and I listen to the debriefs I've had the attorney CL relationship with Katrina and I also sat through her testimony at trial and and I have the benefit now of reading her clinical evaluation and I would say this that you can find inconsistencies and I think that's what the court is is addressing no I'm just trying to understand um where your client's mindset was in this because I'm trying to understand she stated and one of the uh pages that she wouldn't let her children go to school because they would cry because they wanted to be with her and she didn't like to see her children in pain so she kept them with her but then we have an you know the incident involving Mercedes where Mercedes is in pain so I'm trying to understand this statement in Dr Murphy's report and if there is no explanation that's why right I don't I don't know that there is an explanation your honor I think she's just uh um doing her best to try to answer the questions that are opposed to her at the time that she giv the answer as far as being in perfect parent and she would have the children do timeouts uh I think she bus like that she wasn't a very a very good parent in the sense that that she had parenting skills and she she's a minor herself oh no I'm just focusing on according to Dr Murphy's reports is she saying to Dr Murphy that she only used timeouts as a form of I don't think so I think this is in a broader context that her typically her parenting skills would be just to have them in time out that's my understanding of that part okay because I don't expect anyone to be a perfect parent right and as far as not having them in school because the girls would cry I have heard heard her talk about that in debriefing and so this is again reflective breathing and also ref of what she's saying Wonder uh Murphy's report I I think she didn't like seeing the girls cry he said when time came to send them to school he'd rather keep them with her rather than send them off to school that's probably another example of imperfect parenting where you're you're loving your kids more than uh more than is good for them that's how that's how I would interpret that all right so I'm trying to translate that to we here because Mercedes was injured and she didn't seek medical treatment I'm assuming and if I'm correct people can correct me I'm assuming that when Mercedes was being uh treated improperly for one of a better word she was crying she was in pain I'm trying to see how that translates to I didn't send them to school because the girls were crying and I don't like to see them hurt but here we are with a child that's been hurt that's what I'm trying to understand right and I can't understand that either your honor and and I think what I offered the court as as an explanation for this is that she had these children very young and she was abused herself um and and she was imperfect and until she met Jose and then she became a completely different person I think she was trapped by Jose I think he was abusing psychologically by abusing Mercedes and Jordan they were both traumatized you can see in the PSI that the SI the Jordan is herself traumatized so the mother has to be traumatized by watching this uh she develops major mental illnesses as a result of what happened and so this and she's well below average intelligence and so she just made the wrong choices judge and she's accepted resp responsibility that her long choices uh resulted in the death of her child and the removal of the other one I think she's being so honest with the court that it's brutally honest is really what it is uh and as far as yes her her dad she had an opportunity and and I argued that a few minutes ago she could have easily told her father come over here and get Mercedes come over here and get Jordan and she tells doct uh Murphy that the reason she didn't do that is because she was afraid of losing them to CPS because they would have seen these uh injuries uh we wanted to emphasize to report that Dr Murphy felt like that although there was physical injury at no time to believe in her mind that these injuries Rose to the level of of a risk of death and and I'll I'll let defense no I'm not I'm focusing on what she played to in the indictment not the uh anything else yes ma'am okay all right State honor now this case was horrendous Le to Mercedes um the video of Mercedes and a trial and while we did went forward CU he he was the one who did the THB tax who did the the more most sistic stuff Katrina was there she saw it she knew about it she invited the abuse by asking Jose giving Mercedes to Jose she left what was by all accounts a full house a family who led these girls and took them to Jose knowing that abuse was going on and if you recall in the child of your honor there were there were neighbors calling 911 in November in December Jose Jose and probably Kina had already begun abusing Mercedes in those months but yet she still to the belron and she chose to take her children back to Jose she knew what he did she chose she didn't want the supervision of CPS she didn't want the supervision of Homer she wanted to deal with the children the way she wanted to the way josea wanted her to and we know dur during this whole period this final month two three months of Mercedes life there was an air of Suspicion of abuse by pment CPS was involved they said they were getting numerous calls neighbors were calling 911 Katrina was calling Emily saying she couldn't handle Mercedes she wanted to get rid of her leading into what we learned was a horrific two we period where Mercedes was quite literally beaten to death and we're sitting here talking about whether she should get some form of Community Supervision no she's already taking classes she's already been subject to supervision she blatantly was avoiding CPS she wouldn't work under the supervision of a court and there was all this discussion about the girls being in school or not in school she had them out of school to avoid CPS your honor everything points to that it wasn't because for the girl's own good it was for her own desire to avoid CPS another shocking thing is how open Katrina was on the stand about her favoritism towards Jordan and how blatantly obvious it was to everyone who knew them Homer told you she was a private mom but yet it was still obvious that she favored Jordan she shunned Mercedes and she gave Jordan the attention if she if she's a private person and she does that in front of everybody else what do she do behind the scenes she lets a man like Jose rubies abuse Mercedes one thing she says in this evaluation is that if she had just had help this wouldn't have happened we've showed you that she was she lied to police when police would come trying to help that she ignored her father who was going to come help that she did not take Emily lya's offer just a few weeks before the death of Mercedes to help notably one thing that Mr beltron said today is that he had a bad feeling when Jose was taking Mercedes he had a bad feeling I'll submit to you it's because he knows that he knows that Katrina was not going to protect Mercedes and he saw that fear in Mercedes eyes and he knew that fear from Mercedes and the lack of concern that Katrina had for Mercedes something bad was going to happen and he expressed that and it did and Mercedes was abused horrifically and not only that but there was day and a half where Mercedes was taken out of it but we know from the medical examiner testimony she was dying and Katrina still did nothing and if Katrina had taken one of those family members up on their offer for help if she had gone to the doctor once during this time Mercedes would probably be alive and honor the plea bargain in this case was a cap of 45 and that itself works in the fact that she was open about what had happened there's Mercy worked into that Garden 45 years wouldn't even cover the life of Mercedes if she was still alive today not to mention the pain that this has caused to Jordan and probably will for the rest of her life 45 years is what this case means strong and that's what we're asking for one thing it's not to comment on there I love so and I think it goes to the Court's four questions uh how can we explain what happened I don't think we can but what happened is we know this that the first opportunity Katrina had to get out of there she got out of there U Jose always had Jordan with her or she was never left alone with both of those until she took that opportunity when Jose decided to move he decided to move and he left uh them alone and that Katrina took that opportunity called the friend and said get me out of here and but it was too late those were the two days when Jose was uh moving all right how did he end up back at I mean how did he end up at the hospital then who called him so what happened is uh that's when uh it started looking like she was going to need some serious medical attention and Katrina called Jose and said get over here we got to get her to the hospital and that's how Jose ended up back at that residence and took her to the hospital at that point but Katrina was always already in conversations with that woman to help me get out of here so she took the first chance that she got she didn't have a cell phone uh which is not an excuse but are you saying let me just ask you my understanding from the testimony is that the children left the apartment they go to this friend's house then from there the children are taken to the hospital or EMS is that correct yes and then decided to to move out of the apartment world as it used I mean so I'm I'm just following this testimony so she leaves the apartment with the children to be with this friend yes she takes the children well Mercedes to the hospital yes and then she picks up the phone and calls Jose no I don't so so so how did he know they were at the hospital so Jose Jose and Katrina took Mercedes to the hospital from that apartment okay and and so that was the testimony I think and that's in the police reports uh when Katrina realized that she's not breathing correctly and her legs are getting cold uh get over here we got to get her to the hospital and that's reflected in in the clinical statement that she gave who was she telling to get over here we got to get her to the hospital Jose all right so this is back to my my question where was Jose that she had to tell him get over here well so he was in that same apartment complex he was moving into a different apartment in that apartment complex where that friend of uh Katrina's apartment was so I'm I'm the the reason why I asked these questions is cuz I'm trying to follow your argument is the fact that she got away from Jose with this friend maybe it's in the same apartment complex right I don't understand then the fall phone call to Jose to say get over here we got to get her to the hospital I understand so that's why I was asking the question and I understand that and there's so many U so many poor choices and that is that is one of because she had managed to get away from him and you're wondering why she call take us to the hospital but but she did okay and that's how it got over all right this is what the court is going to do court is going to find you guilty and I want to let you know that I read all of the reports I read the PSI I listen to your testimony um I always see people as people I don't see people as criminals I look at people as people and then I try to make the best decision with the information I have that's the reason why I was asking your Council certain questions because I want it to be cleared up in my mind so I can make a decision that I deem would be appropriate uh so I'm going to find you guilty there's an affirmative finding of Family Violence uh give you credit for any time serve there's to be no contact with minors and I'm ass sent you for 45 years in the prison did you review the document entitled trial court certification of defendant's rights to appeal with your attorney did you understand it and did you sign it all right because this is a plee bargain agreement because I followed your plee bargain agreement and because you waved your right to appeal you do not have the Court's permission to appeal do you understand yes and because this is a felony conviction you're not allowed to own or possess any weapons or ammunition if you have a question of what a weapon or ammunition is you need to speak to an attorney you understand yes all right all right we can go off the Record here's the thing uh your Council will probably tell you I've done Child Protective Services cases before and I understand that sometimes children are brought into horrible situations sometimes children don't have good parents sometimes the parents are not only just imperfect they're not good parents and I read Dr Murphy's report on you and I saw that there was CPS involvement involved in your life when you were a child there was CPS involvement when you were having children as a child so I want to let you know I understand all that but at the end of the day when you think about Mercedes nobody ever will know what she was going to do with her life who knows maybe that was the person who was going to find the Cure of cancer we'll never know because she is no longer here or maybe she was going to find the cure for something else or maybe do great things you just never know with children and it's a shame that in this case they're there are faults right you have CPS maybe they could have done more you have family members maybe they could have done more you have police maybe they could have done more you had neighbors they did their job they picked up the phone and they called the police I don't know why it is and I've said this before and I'll say it again sometimes if somebody's walking down the street and they're abusing a dog or not treating a dog properly you know what people do oo let me report this let me pick up this phone and call somebody but when it's concerning children what ends up happening is people saying well that's really not my business I don't want to be involved and what if I'm wrong and I would always tell people but yeah what if you're right if you're wrong you apologize I can tell you right now the number of times there are stray dogs running around and do you know how quickly somebody will call and animal shelter somebody about that dog or either you can be on Facebook and you know what people will do a dog is lost everybody is acting 911 dog loss put it on high alert they're on the lost and found sites every single site for an animal and I like animals but the same level of love that we have for animals in Bear County and in other states is not the same love that we show to children who are in need so I understand that people didn't show you love and what you needed when you were a child in CPS care you know I don't know the answer for that and I don't know what else we can do about it I'm just here to hear cases listen to everybody and hopefully make good decisions all right yes we vitim imp one one all right uh Miss Mendoza uh Victim Impact uh they're just going to speak to you I requ that everybody treats everybody like a human being and with respect so uh if you'll just listen and they will be respectful you may proceed very good care of they have asked me to write something about how it affected the family but I decided not to do that I have decided to write of what I have heard Jordan tell me during the time she has Liv with me of how it has impacted her these are the things that she has shared with me she has Shar with me I wonder why my mommy allowed this to happen to my sister Grandma I cannot sleep at night because I see my being tortured not using that word but being hurt being hit Grandma I don't understand why we didn't leave Jose Grandma I am so afraid that my mom will come one day and take me back to Jose's house Grandma I love my mommy but I'm afraid I'm afraid that one day she will come and something might happen to me like my sister grandma please grandma don't let them take me away I want to stay with you Grandma I do love my mommy and I do pray for her and she does Katrina Grandma I have been told in school or I have been told by other children is your mama killer and she killed my siss how has it affected Jordan This Is How and it will affect her for the rest of her life because you are her mother and she never expected this to happen from her mother so I hope that yes I hope that God has mercy upon your life and God be with you because you're going to need it all right and uh deputies could you bring out BL and probation there's no application

Channel: KSAT 12

Views: 280,718

Keywords: Courts, Katrina Mendoza

Id: K74tlb9VG2U

Length: 108min 26sec (6506 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 29 2024