 |
Isidro Miguel Delacruz
is escorted out Thursday, March 29, 2018, from the Tom Green County courthouse
after being found guilty of capital murder.
|
Early Life
 |
Naiya Bermea Villegas
May 14, 2009 – September 2, 2014
|
Murder of Naiya Villegas
According
to testimony, the girl was killed after Delacruz went to his girlfriend’s home
in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2014. Tanya Bermea testified that she’d
been afraid he would come over, so she tried to barricade the residence.
She
testified that when he broke in through a window, she ran from the house but
left her daughter sleeping believing Delacruz wouldn’t hurt her.
The
jury of eight women and four men went into deliberation at 10:30 a.m. to answer
the special issues questions that resulted in the death penalty on the fifth
week of trial.
According
to The
San Angelo Standard-Times, Isidro Delacruz appeared emotionless when 119th
District Judge Ben Woodward read the sentence in the courtroom, with relatives
of both families present alongside six Tom Green County Sheriff's deputies.
Delacruz also grinned when staff on the defense team patted his shoulders as he
walked out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
The
same jury found Isidro Delacruz guilty of capital murder last month in
the child's death. Naiya died in an ambulance on the
way to the hospital after her throat was slit twice in the middle of the night
at her mother's home in the 2700 block of Houston Street on Sept. 2, 2014.
Isidro
Delacruz's parents declined to comment Tuesday evening as family members hugged
each other outside of the courthouse. Members of Naiya's family said they are
thankful justice was served, adding they were planning to hold a vigil on the courthouse lawn when the case concludes.
"In the ultimate betrayal, Naiya’s short life was brutally,
maliciously ended,"
51st District Attorney Alison Palmer said in a statement after the sentencing. "No family should have to endure the loss of a child,
especially in these circumstances, at the hands of one who professed to love
her.
"To the family of Naiya Villegas, you have my deepest
sympathies. I hope this resolution brings them some measure of closure, and
that they will remember the beauty of Naiya and know that she has found
justice."
Isidro
Delacruz's defense team declined to comment.
Attorneys
took less than an hour each to argue their case on the morning of Tuesday,
April 17, 2018. Court-appointed attorneys Robert R. Cowie and William P.H.
Boyles said Isidro Delacruz suffered from personality disorders, learning
disabilities and physical abuse during his childhood, which still affects him
today. The defense told jurors life imprisonment is
itself a death sentence in prison.
Palmer
said Isidro Delacruz has proven he is incapable of accepting responsibility for
his actions and can't follow rules. She argued a sketchy work history, drinking
while on probation, numerous run-ins with
the law and destructive conduct such as making shanks while he was
awaiting trial in the Tom Green County Jail were all examples of impetuous
behavior.
The
punishment phase of trial had two delays when it began in April 2018. Woodward
halted trial for several days the first week of April because an official gave
prosecutors new school records on Isidro Delacruz.
Defense
attorneys immediately filed for a mistrial and a
sixth continuance based on the receipt of the additional school files, but
Woodward ultimately turned down their motions. Woodward also delayed
proceedings for a day last week for undisclosed reasons.
About
100 witnesses were called to testify, including the child's mother, Delacruz's
ex-girlfriend, who broke down and nearly collapsed in the courtroom when she
saw a picture of Delacruz's bloody hand print inside her house.
Trial
began in January when some 350 San Angelo residents reported to the McNease
Convention Center for jury duty.
"It was common to hear prospective jurors say they did not want
to serve on this jury, but they would because it is their responsibility as a citizen," Palmer said. "Many
said they knew the case would be difficult, but if their friends or family were
involved as a victim or defendant, they would want responsible citizens on a
jury to hear the case. I am humbled by this sense of civic duty and community."
Twelve
jurors and two alternates were eventually impaneled after more than seven weeks
of tedious individual examination by attorneys.
"I thank all of the venirepersons who took time for jury
selection, and I thank the 14 who so diligently served on this jury," Palmer said. "They
have my deepest respect."
Isidro
Delacruz's case will automatically be filed for appeal.
 |
| Mugshot of Isidro
Delacruz |
Explosive Testimony:
Naiya's Mother Feared Isidro Delacruz Would Kill Her
By Yantis Green | Mar. 27,
2018 9:30 pm
SAN
ANGELO, TX -- Tanya Bermea took the witness stand in the capital murder trial
of Isidro Delacruz telling jurors she ran from her home because she knew
something bad was going to happen when Delacruz broke in through the bathroom
window.
The
37-year-old shook uncontrollably as she nervously answered questions from
District Attorney Allison Palmer. Bermea testified that she and Delacruz
weren’t getting along that evening and he had confronted her in the street
earlier when she went looking for him.
Bermea
told jurors she didn’t meet Delacruz at the A.J. Mart on North St. at Garfield
that evening because she was at a barbecue party at her parents house.
Delacruz
got mad and accused Bermea of being with someone else according to Facebook
messages entered into evidence Monday. Bermea testified that she had to
get her daughter home and in bed because Naiya had school the next day.
Bermea
told jurors she began getting phone calls and texts from a phone number she
didn’t recognize. On Monday, Jeremiah Ramos testified that Delacruz used
his cell phone from the Parrot’s Head Tavern to call and text. Bermea
said she was so afraid of Delacruz that she was attempting to use a piece of
wood to block the bathroom window by holding it down so he couldn’t open it.
She couldn’t make the makeshift lock work, according to her
testimony.
As we
reported Monday, Facebook messages from Delacruz to Bermea became increasingly
argumentative and violent as he began drinking later in the evening on Aug. 31,
2014.
Tanya
Bermea said she was afraid. She was shaking and her voice trembled
as she answered questions from the witness stand. Some jurors winced in
painful empathy watching her testify.
Bermea
told the jury that at around 2 a.m. she heard a thud or a thump on the back
wall of her home and then saw Delacruz break out the window and begin climbing
through it into her house. She ran out of her bedroom fearing for her
life. She said she locked the door between her bedroom and Naiya’s bedroom
behind her and ran out of the house.
Bermea
sobbed as she testified that she could hear his footsteps behind her.
Prosecutors
then introduced a surveillance video from SNG Satellite, a business nearby her
home located on the corner of Garfield and North Streets. The video
of that night shows Tanya Bermea walking fast down the street talking on her
cell phone. She said she had called her mom and asked her to come pick her up.
The video then shows Isidro Delacruz a short time later running down
North St. Crime scene investigators found drops of Delacruz’s blood in the
street by SNG.
Bermea
testified that she ran because she was afraid Delacruz would do something bad
to her, but she never thought he’d hurt Naiya. Using video evidence and
testimony, prosecutors argue that Delacruz cut Naiya’s throat and then threw
the butcher knife across the street before following Tanya down North St. past
SNG.
The video
then shows Jesusita Bermea drive slowly by the house then turn onto Garfield
St. and drive up by McCarley Plumbing where she picked up Tanya. Then the
video shows Delacruz running back to the house. After Delacruz was back in the
house, the video shows Tanya and her mother drive back to the house.
Tanya
testified that when they arrived, the door was shut and her mother tried to
open it, but it was locked. Then, Bermea says Delacruz opened the door
and hit and shoved her mother and then attacked her in the front yard.
Just about that time, the first police officer arrived.
Tanya
Bermea was then going to be cross-examined by Delacruz's defense attorney
Rob Cowie. Cowie asked her if she needed a break and a relieved Bermea
said yes. Court recessed for about 15 minutes while she regained her
composure.
Under
cross examination, Bermea testified that she had been drinking that day and had
used marijuana in the past. She told jurors Delacruz was going to give
her some money before they began arguing, but then he told her he wasn’t going
to give her any money because he didn’t want her spending it on marijuana.
Cowie
asked Bermea why she didn’t call 911 when Delacruz broke into her house that
night. She testified that she didn’t because Delacruz’s mother complained
that the last time she called 911 on Delacruz he went to jail and he shouldn’t
have.
Cowie
kept asking why Bermea didn’t call 911 each time she made a decision that
night. He said she called her mother, she called Delacruz’s mother, but
she never called 911. Bermea kept responding over and over, “I don’t remember!”
and, “I never thought he would do anything to her just me!”
Next on
the witness stand Tuesday was Tommy Williams, who is a Reserve Deputy
Intelligence Officer for the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office. Williams
is in charge of all the recordings of inmate phone calls and visits at the Tom
Green County Jail. He provided recordings of two phone calls and one jail visit
to Delacruz.
The phone
calls and video of the interview were heavily redacted because of the defense
attorney's objections.
In the
phone calls, Isidro Delacruz is recorded saying, “I’m sorry for everything that
happened and all the pain I’ve caused to everyone. I wish I could have
just taken my dad’s advice just to leave her alone.”
The final
witness of the day was San Angelo Police Department Crime Scene Technician
Deanna Garcia. She testified for hours about collecting clothing from
Naiya Villegas and Tanya Bermea and Jesusita Bermea at Shannon Medical Center.
She also photographed their injuries and took statements from both Tanya
and her mother Jesusita.
Garcia
then testified that she went to San Angelo Community Medical Center and
photographed and collected clothing from Isidro Delacruz. She also
testified that she prepared Naiya’s body for autopsy. Garcia said she wrapped
the girl’s hands in paper bags to preserve evidence and placed the 5-year-old
in a body bag.
District
Attorney Allison Palmer spent hours going through crime scene photographs
and DNA results from the clothing Garcia collected. They went through
each blood stain that was processed by the Department of Public Safety Crime
Lab in Lubbock.
Garcia
testified about the different types of blood spatter evidence. She
testified that most of the blood spots outside the house belonged to Isidro
Delacruz except for a few drops on the front porch and the blood on the rock
found in the middle of the street in front of the house.
Tanya
Bermea testified earlier that she collected rocks and there were rocks by her
front door. Garcia testified that there were a few drops of blood on the front
porch that belonged to Naiya and the blood on the rock also belonged to Naiya.
Palmer
passed the witness at 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. District Judge Ben
Woodward said that it was thundering and raining outside and he would give the
jury a short break then the defense could cross examine Deanna Garcia.
The jury
will resume hearing testimony at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when the defense
is expected to finish its cross examination of Garcia. Garcia is the
final witness for the prosecution, so the DA is expected to rest the State's
case. After that, Defense attorneys Will Boyles and Rob Cowie will then present
their defense. Judge Woodward and the teams of attorneys have agreed to
continue testimony Wednesday and Thursday and take Good Friday off then
continue the proceedings on Monday.
 |
Naiya Bermea Villegas
May 14, 2009 – September 2, 2014
|
Why Naiya's Mother is
Innocent
By Yantis Green | Mar. 30,
2018 2:06 pm
OPINION—
Isidro Delacruz’s defense attorneys painted a picture of Naiya Villegas’s
mother as partially responsible for the death of the 5-year-old girl.
Jurors didn’t buy that defense and found Delacruz guilty of capital
murder Thursday.
Tanya
Bermea is ten years older than Delacruz and had good reason to fear him.
On Nov. 11, 2013 almost a year before Naiya’s murder, Delacruz was
arrested and charged with third degree felony assault family violence.
According to court documents, Delacruz went to Bermea’s home on Houston
St. and began assaulting her because she had accused him of deflating the tires
on her car.
Bermea
told police she ran from the house with Delacruz following her. Delacruz
caught her and got on top of her and choked her until she passed out and
urinated in her pants due to being choked unconscious. Bermea told police
this was not the first time Delacruz had choked her and assaulted her. Bermea
said Delacruz told her she was going to die and she was afraid that he was
going to kill her.
That
sounds eerily similar to the events Sept. 2, 2014 when Delacruz slit Naiya’s
throat, killing the child. The surveillance video from SNG Satellite
shows Bermea walking fast down Houston St. talking on her phone with Delacruz
following a short time later. She knew from past experience that Delacruz
would follow her out of the house and that’s why she left Naiya in the home.
Delacruz did follow her out but went back and killed Naiya according to
testimony.
The
surveillance video timeline also shows that Bermea was not in the house when
Naiya was attacked. The Medical Examiner, Dr. Thomas Parsons testified
that Naiya’s jugular vein was almost severed and she would have bled out in
less than 20 minutes. Bermea was gone from the house for at least 25
minutes by the time Naiya died.
Deanna
Garcia, the SAPD investigator who photographed Bermea at the hospital,
testified that Bermea did not have blood on her while Delacruz was covered in
Naiya’s blood. Bermea had a red swollen cuticle in her left middle
finger, but it was an old infection or wound and Garcia testified that it
couldn’t have occurred that night.
In
closing arguments, District Attorney Allison Palmer told jurors Bermea was
afraid for her life because Delacruz was looking for her by searching every
room in the house before chasing her down the street. Bermea knew what
Delacruz was capable of and she ran for life. Testimony also showed that
Bermea’s DNA was not on the knife or in the bathroom or in the kitchen or on
the walls. The blood in the house belonged to Naiya and Delacruz according to
testimony from DNA experts.
Tanya
Bermea broke down on the stand and wailed the sound only a mother who has lost
a child could make. It was a mistake for defense attorneys to put her on
the stand a second time and show her pictures of blood on the walls of her
home. Jurors picked up on the depth of her pain and anguish and took less
than three hours to convict Isidro Delacruz of capital murder. The punishment
phase of the trial begins Monday. The range of punishment for capital
murder in Texas is life in prison or death by lethal injection.
Convicted
Child Killer Delacruz Could be Sentenced to Death Today
By
Yantis Green | Apr. 16, 2018 8:11 am
SAN ANGELO, TX -- Defense attorneys for convicted
capital murderer Isidro Delacruz are expected to rest their case today in the
punishment phase of his trial.
After the defense rests, the judge will read the
instructions to the jury and attorneys will present their closing arguments.
Once closing arguments are finished, the jury will be given the charge and
begin deliberations.
Delacruz was convicted of capital murder which
carries a range of punishment of life in prison without parole or death by
lethal injection. It took the same jury only three hours to convict Delacruz of
capital murder on March 29.
Delacruz was convicted of breaking into Tanya
Bermea’s house on Houston St. in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2014 and
cutting the throat of Bermea’s 5-year-old daughter Naiya Villegas. Bermea and
Delacruz had a volatile dating relationship and he had just been released from
jail five days earlier for assaulting Bermea at the same house.
Testimony and police reports show that Delacruz
chased Bermea out of the house, threw her to the ground, beat her and choked
her until she was unconscious a year before Naiya was killed.
In a video interview with police the day Naiya was
murdered, Delacruz admitted that he had been drinking all night and had gone to
Bermea’s house and hit her. He also told police he threw his knife at her. The
knife found across the street at the scene had Naiya’s blood and Delacruz’s
blood on it.
Blood alcohol expert Dr. Wilke Wilson testified
Friday that Delacruz’s blood alcohol level at the time of the murder was three
times the legal limit. Wilson said Delacruz told him in an interview that he
had consumed 21 beers that night and Wilson testified that would be consistent
with his blood alcohol level.
District Attorney Allison Palmer who is prosecuting
the case introduced hundreds of photographs over the four weeks of the trial.
Those photos showed the bloody inside of Bermea’s house. There was blood in
every room. There were also photos of the deceased five year old girl in the
hospital and at her autopsy. Those photos were so disturbing that many jurors
and others in the courtroom gasped and looked away.
Palmer's case also included Delacruz's history of
violence and arrests before the murder and his numerous violations of jail
conduct after the murder including being caught with makeshift knives in his
jail cell and evidence of an escape route in his cell block.
The final phase of the capital murder trial begins
at 9 a.m. Monday in the Tom Green County courthouse.
 |
Naiya Bermea Villegas
May 14, 2009 – September 2, 2014
|
Isidro
Delacruz gets death penalty in Naiya Villegas murder
Ngan
Ho, San Angelo Standard-Times Published 1:57 p.m. CT April 17, 2018 | Updated
4:59 p.m. CT April 18, 2018
In the end, the photographs of a smiling 5-year-old
girl juxtaposed with a menacing-looking Isidro Delacruz — staring straight into
the camera on the night of the child's murder — might have helped jurors decide
Delacruz needed to die.
A Tom Green County jury sentenced Delacruz, 27, to
death late Tuesday in the slaying of 5-year-old Naiya Villegas after more than
three years of trial delays.
The jury of eight women and four men went into
deliberation at 10:30 a.m. to answer the special issues questions that resulted
in the death penalty on the fifth week of trial.
Delacruz appeared emotionless when 119th District
Judge Ben Woodward read the sentence in the courtroom, with relatives of both
families present alongside half a dozen Tom Green County Sheriff's deputies.
Delacruz grinned when staff on the defense team
patted his shoulders as he walked out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
Family members had been meandering in and out of
the courtroom throughout the day as they waited for the jury to make a
determination.
The same jury found Delacruz guilty of capital
murder last month in the child's death. Naiya died in an ambulance on the way
to the hospital after her throat was slit twice in the middle of the night at her
mother's home in the 2700 block of Houston Street on Sept. 2, 2014.
Delacruz's parents declined to comment Tuesday
evening as family members hugged each other outside of the courthouse. Members
of Naiya's family said they are thankful justice was served, adding they were
planning to hold a vigil on the courthouse lawn when the case concludes.
"In the ultimate betrayal, Naiya’s short life
was brutally, maliciously ended," 51st District Attorney Alison Palmer
said in a statement after the sentencing. "No family should have to endure
the loss of a child, especially in these circumstances, at the hands of one who
professed to love her.
"To the family of Naiya Villegas, you have my
deepest sympathies. I hope this resolution brings them some measure of closure,
and that they will remember the beauty of Naiya and know that she has found
justice."
Delacruz's defense team declined to comment.
Attorneys took less than an hour each to argue
their case Tuesday morning. Court-appointed attorneys Robert R. Cowie and William
P.H. Boyles said Delacruz experienced personality disorders, learning
disabilities and physical abuse during his upbringing, which affected him in
adulthood. The defense told jurors life imprisonment is itself a death sentence
in prison.
Palmer said Delacruz has proven he is incapable of
accepting responsibility for his actions and can't follow rules. She argued a
sketchy work history, drinking while on probation, numerous run-ins with the
law and destructive conduct such as making shanks while he was awaiting trial
in the Tom Green County Jail were all examples of impetuous behavior.
The punishment phase of trial had two delays when
it began this month. Woodward halted trial for several days the first week of
April because an official gave prosecutors new school records on Delacruz.
Defense attorneys immediately filed for a mistrial
and a sixth continuance based on the receipt of the additional school files,
but Woodward ultimately turned down their motions. Woodward also delayed
proceedings for a day last week for undisclosed reasons.
About 100 witnesses were called to testify,
including the child's mother, Delacruz's ex-girlfriend, who broke down and
nearly collapsed in the courtroom when she saw a picture of Delacruz's bloody
hand print inside her house.
Trial began in January when some 350 San Angelo
residents reported to the McNease Convention Center for jury duty.
"It was common to hear prospective jurors say
they did not want to serve on this jury, but they would because it is their
responsibility as a citizen," Palmer said. "Many said they knew the
case would be difficult, but if their friends or family were involved as a
victim or defendant, they would want responsible citizens on a jury to hear the
case. I am humbled by this sense of civic duty and community."
Twelve jurors and two alternates were eventually
impaneled after more than seven weeks of tedious individual examination by
attorneys.
"I thank all of the venirepersons who took
time for jury selection, and I thank the 14 who so diligently served on this
jury," Palmer said. "They have my deepest respect."
This was the first time Palmer had prosecuted a
capital case seeking the death penalty that had gone to trial.
The last Tom Green County death penalty trial took
place in May 1999, when a jury sent Luis Ramirez to death row when he hired a
hit man who shot and killed fireman Nemecio Nandin because Nandin was having a
relationship with Ramirez's ex-wife.
Delacruz's case will automatically be filed for
appeal.
TRIAL
TIMELINE
April 13: 'I love my son' despite everything,
Isidro Delacruz's mother testifies
April 11: Friends, psychologist called to testify
in defense of Isidro Delacruz
April 10: Sentencing phase of Isidro Delacruz
capital murder trial on hold again
April 9: Judge denies request for mistrial in
Delacruz capital murder case; sentencing continues
April 4: Punishment hearing resumes Monday in
capital case
April 3: Warden talks about life in Texas prisons
during Isidro Delacruz death penalty hearing
April 2: Jury mulls Isidro Delacruz's fate as
sentencing gets underway
March 29: Isidro Delacruz found guilty of capital
murder in death of Naiya Villegas
March 28: Naiya Villegas' mother breaks down in
court; closing arguments in murder trial set Thursday
March 27: Naiya Villegas' mother testifies of
Delacruz: 'I never thought he would do anything to her'
March 26: Jurors again must view gruesome photos of
Naiya Villegas' injuries
March 23: Forensic scientists talk DNA evidence,
confirm lack of tampering in Delacruz murder trial
March 22: Jurors see child's bloody blanket as
crime tech testifies in Delacruz murder trial
March 21: Naiya Villegas' heart stopped on way to
hospital, medics say during Delacruz murder trial
March 20: Jurors in murder trial see police
dash-cam video, photo of child dying
March 19: Jury impaneled, Delacruz capital murder
trial begins
OTHER
LINKS:
NAIYA BERMEA VILLEGAS (MAY 14, 2009 TO
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014)
