Murdered Child's Mother Wails and Breaks Down on the Witness Stand 3 Times

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Tanya Bermea broke down on the witness stand three times as defense attorneys asked her questions about phone calls and Facebook messages as testimony in the guilt and innocence phase in the Isidro Delacruz capital murder trial came to a close at 2:50 p.m. Wednesday.  

Bermea’s daughter Naiya Villegas was murdered Sept. 2, 2014 in her home on Houston St.  Delacruz was arrested at the scene and charged with capital murder of a child under 10 years of age.  He faces the death penalty if the jury finds him guilty.

Tanya Bermea screamed at the top of her lungs and sobbed and cried uncontrollably as she broke down during defense attorney Rob Cowie's questioning.  Cowie used as exhibits scenes from the surveillance video from SNG Satellite as well as photos of a blood-soaked light switch located just inside the front door. In previous testimony the jury learned that blood was Delacruz's. Bermea was not present during any portion of the trial since she was on the witness list, so she didn't know, or assumed that blood was her daughter's. But Cowie didn't ask about the blood-stained light switch. He instead asked if Bermea could see any blood on the door knob also in the photo. There wasn't any blood there, but Bermea was so shaken she couldn't answer the question. District Judge Ben Woodward recessed the trial twice to allow Bermea to compose herself.

Bermea wailed the cry that only a mother who has lost a child can cry.  One woman in the courtroom was pregnant and I couldn’t help but think of the connection that woman has with her unborn child and the connection that was severed between Tanya Bermea and her daughter Naiya on that horrible night in 2014.

This is also Holy Week for Christians and Good Friday is the day Jesus was crucified and his mother was present at his death. There is a statue in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome by Michelangelo called the Pieta. It is a sculpture that depicts Mary sitting holding the body of her son after he was crucified and killed.     

The defense’s only other witnesses came Wednesday morning.  Tom Green County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Gary Cole testified that he collected phone records from Tanya Bermea’s cell phone and San Angelo Police Department Sgt. Kelly Lajoie testified about Facebook Messenger messages between Bermea and Delacruz.  

Isidro Delacruz was given the opportunity to testify in his own defense but declined to take the witness stand.  

Attorneys for both sides met Wednesday afternoon to hammer out the jury’s charge, or instructions.  Judge Woodward sent the jury home for the day. The judge will read the charge to the jury at 9 a.m. Thursday morning and then the attorneys will present closing arguments.  The jury will then begin deliberations on the guilt or innocence of Isidro Delacruz. Thursday will be the ninth day of the trial.