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‘Don’t think there will ever be justice’: Mercedes Losoya’s family talks about unwanted plea deal, what’s next in case

Jose Ruiz given life sentence; Katrina Mendoza awaiting sentencing after accepting plea deal in torture death of her 5-year-old daughter

SAN ANTONIO – Videos and photos are all the paternal side of Mercedes Losoya’s family has left of her.

The five-year-old was tortured to death in February 2022 at the hands of her mother, Katrina Mendoza, and her mother’s boyfriend, Jose Ruiz.

On March 18, Ruiz was found guilty by a jury, and they sentenced him to life in prison.

The trial is grueling for Loraine Martinez, Mercedes’ grandmother, and her aunt, Emily Losoya.

For the first time, they saw a video and photos Ruiz took while abusing Mercedes and the aftermath of her injuries.

“The video was just so hard,” Emily Losoya said.

The video showed Mercedes holding up jugs in the back seat of a car, crying in pain, and asking what she had done wrong. Ruiz could be heard yelling back to keep them up.

In 2021, Mercedes and her older sister, Jordan, were staying with Lorain and Emily.

Having opened their homes to Mendoza and giving her a place to stay,

Emily Losoya said Mendoza would often leave for weeks and visit the girls. In November 2021, everything changed.

“The night before Thanksgiving, she showed up late with Ruiz demanding her girls,” Martinez said. “I even cried outside. ‘Katrina, let me have the girls.’ And I never saw Mercedes again.”

Concerned with their whereabouts and well-being, Emily Losoya said she called Child Protective Services numerous times. She said Mendoza found out she called and texted her that they would never see the girls again.

In Ruiz’s trial, it was revealed that CPS had launched numerous investigations on Mendoza, but the girls were never removed.

“She didn’t want Mercedes to be happy,” Martinez said. “She rather let her daughter suffer, get tortured by this monster, and I will never forgive him or her, ever.”

The family believes the District Attorney’s Office should never have offered Mendoza a plea deal, which they didn’t know was coming until after it was offered.

“I said, ‘You should have contact us first, but you never did. Why?’” Martinez said. “Forty-five years or probation — that’s a slap on my face.”

Mendoza is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29. Per the plea deal, the maximum punishment is 45 years.

During Ruiz’s trial, Mendoza testified but showed no emotion and didn’t even remember the date Mercedes died.

“There’s nothing that’s keeping me from telling her what I really want to tell her,” Emily Losoya said. “Strangers that were in the courtroom or people that were watching — they had more of a reaction to watching the video than she did.”

As for justice, they believe there will never be any for Mercedes.

“They get to live in prison, but Mercedes doesn’t get to be here with us or to live her life. She wasn’t given that opportunity,” Emily Losoya said. “I don’t think there will ever be justice, no matter what.”

Martinez said, “I’m just gonna leave it in God’s hands. (Mendoza is) gonna pay sitting in that jail. She’s gonna end up in prison. Her days coming and his days.”

As for Jordan Losoya, her great-grandmother has adopted her. Martinez said she is thriving and doing well.


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About the Authors
Erica Hernandez headshot

Erica Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning journalist with 15 years of experience in the broadcast news business. Erica has covered a wide array of stories all over Central and South Texas. She's currently the court reporter and cohost of the podcast Texas Crime Stories.

Misael Gomez headshot

Misael started at KSAT-TV as a photojournalist in 1987.

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