SAN ANTONIO – The ex-girlfriend of a man accused of physically abusing and torturing her 5-year-old daughter testified against him in court Thursday.
Katrina Mendoza is a witness for the prosecution in the injury to a child trial of Jose Ruiz, who is accused in the death of Mercedes Losoya. The little girl was taken to a hospital by Mendoza in February 2022 with what investigators called extreme physical abuse.
Mendoza is also charged in the case and agreed to testify as part of a plea agreement. She will be sentenced on a charge of injury to a child by omission after Ruiz’s trial and faces punishment ranging from parole to 45 years in prison.
Mendoza described Mercedes, who she gave birth to at age 16, as “very smart, outgoing, beautiful, liked to dance and was close to her older sister.”
She admitted that Child Protective Services got involved due to neglect of her two girls and, at one point, were removed from her home because she was a minor. CPS also investigated that Mendoza abused her daughters, but they were not removed from her care, she testified.
When asked by the prosecution if Mercedes was disobedient, she responded, “sometimes, every kid is.”
She said that she would punish Mercedes by “putting her in timeout facing the wall and spanked her with a belt on her butt.”
Mendoza said she met Ruiz at a strip club, and they started dating right away. Ruiz met Mendoza’s two daughters about two months later. She said the girls called him “daddy.”
The witness said she lived with Ruiz off and on, including three weeks before Mercedes died.
Mendoza said that Ruiz severely disciplined Mercedes.
“He would spank them, he would pull Mercedes’ hair and cover her mouth and nose. Use thumbtacks on her feet,” Mendoza testified.
She also told jurors that Ruiz would put clothing or a sock in Mercedes’ mouth.
“He would mop the floor with her in her urine. Get her on the ground and drag her in her urine, and then put the clothes in her mouth,” Mendoza said.
She also added that she saw a picture from Ruiz’s phone showing dog feces smeared on Mercedes’ face.
When asked by the prosecution if she tried to stop Ruiz, Mendoza responded by saying “several times,” but he didn’t listen to her.
Mendoza told jurors Ruiz took some of the video and images shown in court on his cellphone. In the video, you could hear Mercedes crying, asking Ruiz to stop hitting her. Ruiz responded by saying for her to pick up a large jug of water and hold it up for hours.
While jurors and those in the gallery could be heard crying, neither Mendoza or Ruiz appeared to show any emotion.
While Mendoza testified for the state, the defense took advantage of her decision, asking her what she was hoping to get out of it despite the fact that she also abused her daughter.
“I don’t expect (probation) because it’s reality. I’m not innocent,” said Mendoza, who later added, “I don’t know, I’m not the judge.”
When the defense asked Mendoza why she stayed with Ruiz when she knew he was hurting Mercedes, Mendoza said, “He was my boyfriend, and I trusted him. I loved him.”
The defense also tried to poke holes in Mendoza’s account of what happened the day that she took Mercedes to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Mendoza, though, blamed the death of her daughter on her ex.
“Jose beat her to death ... the abuse piled up, and she died,” Mendoza testified.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Friday.
If found guilty, Ruiz faces a maximum punishment of up to life in prison.
This trial is taking place in the 187th District Court with presiding Judge Stephanie Boyd.
KSAT 12 will livestream this trial gavel to gavel. You can watch the trial on KSAT.com, KSAT Plus and KSAT’s YouTube channel.
For a full recap of the case, watch: “Open Court: The Jose Ruiz Trial” below: