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Wednesday, April 17, 2019

ISIDRO DELACRUZ SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE MURDER OF 5-YEAR-OLD NAIYA VILLEGAS [APRIL 17, 2018]


On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 a Tom Green County, Texas jury sentenced Isidro Delacruz to death for the 2014 murder of his then-girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter, Naiya Villegas who died after he slit her throat was slit. 

Isidro Miguel Delacruz is escorted out Thursday, March 29, 2018, from the Tom Green County courthouse after being found guilty of capital murder.
Isidro Miguel Delacruz is a convicted child murderer residing in San Angelo, Texas. In April 2018 he was given the death sentence for murdering his girlfriend's five year old daughter, Naiya Villegas by slashing her throat.

Early Life
According to his defense attorneys, Isidro Delacruz experienced personality disorders, learning disabilities and physical abuse growing up, which affected him in adulthood. 


Naiya Bermea Villegas
May 14, 2009 – September 2, 2014

Murder of Naiya Villegas

On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 a Tom Green County, Texas jury sentenced Isidro Delacruz to death for the 2014 murder of his then-girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter, Naiya Villegas who died after he slit her throat was slit.

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.


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)

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