Jurors Agonize Over Photos of Dead 5-year-old Girl's Fatal Wounds

SAN ANGELO, TX—First responders became emotional Wednesday as they described the details of the scene at the residence on Houston St. where 5-year-old Naiya Villegas was found mortally wounded.  

The common theme among all the police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians who testified was nothing they could say could possibly prepare the jury for the butally graphic photos they would see during testimony Wednesday.

They were right.  When District Attorney Allison Palmer professionally and carefully presented the photos of Villegas to the jury there were gasps and tears from the gallery, the jury box, and the attorneys.  The impact of one single photograph was palpable.

The photo came amid testimony of how Naiya was treated at the scene and transported to the hospital.  The Emergency Medical Technicians from the San Angelo Fire Department described the little girl in terms of agony.  Specifically, ‘agonal breathing,’ ‘agonal pulse,’ and agonal ‘respiration.’

They told the jury that the 5-year-old girl was unresponsive and barely breathing by the time they reached the scene and her neck wounds were so severe that she had bled out by the time they began to treat her. 

Medics who transported her from the residence to the hospital described how they lost her pulse while she was in the ambulance and that were performing CPR on her just to get her to the hospital.  She had bled out.

Testimony revealed that Trauma personnel at Shannon worked to revive Naiya for 20 minutes.  She never regained a pulse in part because she bled out at the scene.

The testimony Wednesday began with San Angelo Police Officer Chris Schneider who was the second officer on the scene.  He told the jury that it, “seemed like there was blood everywhere.”

Schneider told jurors he arrived at the house and entered the living room where Isidro Delacruz was applying pressure to Naiya’s throat in an attempt to help her.   He said he pushed Delacruz off of Naiya and put pressure on her neck wounds while Delacruz was belligerent and combative. Schneider said he helped Officers Rodriguez and Hasty cuff Delacruz.  They took the intoxicated and combative Delacruz out of the house while Schneider continued to render aid to Naiya.

Schneider told jurors the little girl’s neck wounds were covered with blood soaked paper towels.  He said she was still alive and had very shallow and short breaths; other than that she was motionless in a pool of blood on the living room floor.  Schneider said emotionally, “It was something I’ll never forget.” He described her breathing as a “rattling breath, sometimes a person’s last breath.”

The next witness called was Naiya’s grandmother, Jesusita Bermea who made the first call to 911.  

Jesusita Bermea testified that Naiya stayed with her that night while her mother, Tanya Bermea, went out with friends.  J. Bermea said Tanya came to her house about 11 p.m. and Jesusita drove Tanya and Naiya to their home on Houston St.

Jesusita then told jurors Tanya called her about 2 a.m. upset because ‘someone was in the house’.  J. Bermea drove from her house on Freeland the few blocks and found her daughter walking down Garfield St. near McCarley Plumbing.  J. Bermea testified that she then drove her green Chevy SUV back to Tanya’s residence on Houston St.

Jesusita testified that she approached the front door of the house and the door was locked.  She said that that’s when Isidro Delacruz opened the door, pushed her and struck her in the face and on her arm. She said she ran down the street and called 911.  

District Attorney Allison Palmer the played the 911 audio.  An obviously upset Jesusita Bermea said on the recording, “Please Hurry! He’s inside the house.  He’s all crazy or something! I’m afraid he’s going to hurt her.” J. Bermea continued on the 911 call, “I’m afraid he’s going to hurt her! My granddaughter! Please hurry!”

Jurors could hear Tanya Bermea screaming on the 911 call as San Angelo Police Officers arrive.  

Then came the hard part for those in the courtroom.  Palmer called San Angelo Police Officer Priscilla Massey.  Massey interviewed Tanya Bermea at the scene and tried to keep her calm.  Massey was the PD officer who followed Naiya in the ambulance to Shannon Medical Center’s emergency room.  

Officer Massey was in the trauma room with Naiya when the 5-year-old girl was pronounced dead at 3:16 a.m on Sept. 2, 2014.  During Massey’s testimony, D.A. Palmer introduced the pictures of Naiya in the hospital just after she died.

There is no easy way to describe the photos.  A 5-year-old girl had her throat cut. There was a long laceration just under her chin.  There was a long laceration lower and on the left side of her neck. There was a photo that showed the two long, deep lacerations seemed to almost reach the point where she could have been decapitated.  Decapitated is a word that was not used in the courtroom, but it is fitting after viewing the photographs.

Monday’s testimony continued with Justin Neeley, a firefighter and emergency medical technician for the San Angelo Fire Department.  Neeley testified that he saw Naiya on the floor and she was still breathing but just barely. He described how EMTs cleared her airway and began treating her wounds.  He was the first to tell the jury that Naiya was experiencing, “agonal breathing and agonal pulse.” He described those as a body’s last attempt at life.

Next on the stand was San Angelo EMT Nathan Havlak.  Havlak testified that he picked Naiya up from the living room floor and placed her on the cot which was then taken to the ambulance.  He described the heroic efforts to treat the unresponsive girl including putting an IV into her bone to force liquids into her body as soon as possible.  He said the performed CPR on Naiya in the ambulance but never regained a pulse.

Next on the stand was Edward Cooper who is another EMT in the San Angelo Fire Department who responded that night.  Cooper testified that he treated Isidro Delacruz’s laceration on the back of his left arm. He said Delacruz was handcuffed in the back seat of a police patrol car.  

Cooper was on the stand when defense attorneys objected to his testimony about treating Tanya Bermea.  The jury was dismissed as attorneys argued about the limits of testimony from Cooper about statements Tanya made while he was treating her.  Judge Woodward ruled that his testimony would be allowed.

Cooper testified that Tanya told him she had been assaulted by Delacruz.  

The final witness of the day was Eric Hasty.  Hasty was the third San Angelo Police Officer to arrive on the scene.  He testified that he helped Officer Rodriguez cuff Isidro Delacruz and take him out of the house and place him in the backseat of his patrol car.  

At the end of the day Wednesday, the jury was released to go home while attorneys and Judge Woodward considered in-car videos from Hasty’s patrol car. The jury was instructed to return by 8:45 a.m. on Thursday.