SAN ANTONIO – A nurse who provided treatment to a 5-year-old girl told a jury Tuesday that the child was “completely unresponsive” and had bruises “head to toe” and “front and back” on her lifeless body.
Gustavo Cervantes, a registered nurse, was the first witness to testify for the state in the trial of Jose Ruiz. The defendant is charged with injury to a child in connection with the death of Mercedes Losoya.
Cervantes testified that he was working as an emergency room nurse at Texas Vista Hospital on Feb. 7, 2022, when the girl’s mother, Katrina Mendoza, brought her to the South Side hospital. Cervantes told jurors that another nurse told him that Mendoza came into the hospital yelling for help and that Mercedes wasn’t breathing.
Cervantes said that he carried Mercedes into a room and began working on her. He testified that the girl had no pulse and her blood wasn’t circulating when the trauma team tried to insert an IV.
The girl’s “skin was already ashing,” she had “old and new” bruises and scratches, toenails and hair missing, and food in her mouth, Cervantes testified.
He said that Mendoza, who is also charged in the case, said that her daughter hit her head on a lamp. Mendoza is expected to testify against Ruiz, who was her boyfriend at the time of the girl’s death, as part of a plea deal.
Mendoza’s demeanor the night of the incident was puzzling to Ryan Cahill, who talked with her when he and a probationary officer with the San Antonio Police Department were called to the hospital to investigate.
“In my opinion, (she) was attempting to appear very upset … appeared that she was more forcing the emotions instead of truly feeling them,” Cahill told jurors. He added that “she became agitated and irate” on the phone with Ruiz.
Cahill said he was concerned about Mendoza’s other child and wanted Child Protective Services to take custody of the child. He testified that Mercedes’ “injuries were clearly not accidental … they were extensive” and she had “burn marks on her feet.”
The alleged abuse by Mendoza of Mercedes and Mendoza’s older daughter was presented in a video that was shown to the jury. The video was an interview conducted by the nonprofit ChildSafe of Mercedes’ older sister, following Mercedes’ death.
In the video, the girl said, “My mom slapped me ... it felt hard.” She also said that Ruiz got “thumbtacks and put them in her (sister’s) feet.” The girl also said that her mom and Ruiz would “whoop” her sister and hit her and Mercedes with a “chancla” and a belt.
If found guilty, Ruiz is facing 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: