Top El Paso Area Local News Stories
Source: MedleyStory
A mother accused of killing her daughter in 2010 is claiming she was insane, according to defense attorney Gary Mitchell.
Jessica Barron was 27 years old at the time she was charged with beating her 5-year-old daughter Angel Jemenez to death in June 2010.
Angel had broken bones and bruises all over her body when she was first brought to the hospital and died of internal bleeding because of her injuries.
"She suffered a lot before she died," Angel's paternal grandmother Ramona Espino said. "She was in the hospital with a broken leg. I asked Jessica what happened to her leg and she told me she was just clumsy."
Espino still keeps a photograph of her granddaughter close by her in her home.
"She was a very sweet girl," Espino said. "She was very beautiful."
Espino said that she believes that Barron deliberately and knowingly hurt her daughter.
"It would be justice for the authorities to put her away because I don't think it's fair for a mother to kill her daughter," Espino said.
Barron is charged with child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:47:04 -0700
Neighbors who watched Texas Rangers and FBI agents raid the home of Anthony, Texas Mayor Art Franco Tuesday evening said the raid came out of nowhere.
"I knew the mayor lived there," said Armando Vargas, who works at a car dealership a couple buildings down from Franco's home. "But I was surprised to see the law enforcement going in. I don't know why they needed to search his house."
Ana Hererra was just leaving Rosa's Beauty Salon, which is catty-corner from the house, said all the agents were wearing gloves and weren't talking to anyone but each other.
An anonymous source called KFOX 14 and said the investigation has been ongoing for more than a year. The man alleged the city's books were unbalanced, but Franco said Tuesday that was not the case.
"The investigation started back when I ran for mayor in 2011," said Franco. "I feel that when everything is finished and done, everything will be fine."
The Texas Rangers have not commented on the raid, but has confirmed the investigation is ongoing.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:39:50 -0700
A woman who did not want to be identified told KFOX14 News how a SWAT team standoff started Monday.
"You could tell he had a rifle," the woman said. She said Glenn Sanderson, 53, tried to get inside her home.
"(He was yelling) “Let me in. Let me in!” and screaming at me, like all crazy," the woman said. She called police. Sanderson locked himself inside of his own house. That’s when the standoff ensued.
Sanderson, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, is off of his medication, according to his sister, Peggy Penalber. Penalber said he’s also not attending his court-ordered outpatient program.
"Family's of schizophrenics cannot force them to be hospitalized or even take their medications," Penalber said. She’s frustrated because Adult Protective Services and MHMR have evaluated Sanderson and then let him go.
APS Spokesperson Paul Zimmerman said it takes a court order for a mentally ill person to be committed to a Psychiatric Center.
"The tricky part is that evaluations are made in windows of time and mental health fluctuates," Zimmerman said.
That means someone who seems like a threat one day, might be evaluated while they seem okay.
"If somebody is acting calm and rational, and they don't appear to be posing a threat to themselves or others, the psych center has to let them go," Zimmerman said.
Sanderson’s neighbor said she’s felt terrorized for years.
"He's come up while I'm doing dishes or something. I’ll look up and he's standing in front of my window," the woman said. "He's threatened us several times, that he's going to kill us and burn us alive. He even assaulted my husband one time."
The thought of Sanderson being released motivated this woman to file a protective order against him on Tuesday.
Sanderson is being held on a $20,000 bond and Penalber said the family has no intention of bailing him out.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:44:49 -0700
Motorcyclists are invited to take a free safety course Saturday.
The El Paso Police Department offers a motorcycle safety course every third Saturday of each month.
For those interested, the class is held at Edge Kawasaki located at 10310 Montana Avenue.
The course starts at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
To sign up for the class, those interested in participating should call the El Paso Police Department's Traffic Safety Coordinator, Margaret Petrozza at 915.564.7352 or Edge Kawasaki at 915.593.1024.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:36:44 -0700
For the seventh straight year, participating IHOP restaurants will give a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to each guest on National Pancake Day, Tuesday Feb. 28 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Last year, IHOP served four million free pancakes on National Pancake Day 2011 resulting in more than $2.5 million in donations to children's charities. For every short stack of pancakes served on that day, IHOP guests are invited to make a voluntary donation to raise funds for Shriners Hospitals for Children and other local charities.
IHOP's goal is to raise more than $2.7 million in donations this year, which would bring their total amount of funds raised to over $10 million.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:12:01 -0700
Roberto Angel Cardona, aka "Little Angelillo," was sentenced to life in prison Feb. 14 for participation in a racketeering conspiracy, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman for the Western District of Texas, FBI Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division Kevin Perkins and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Cardona, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 2, 2011, was the El Paso Barrio Azteca gang leader until he was arrested for drug charges April 30, 2010, according to testimony presented during the sentencing.
"This sentence reflects the severity of Roberto Cardona's crimes as a leader of the brutal Barrio Azteca gang, as well as his individual acts of violence and drug trafficking," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "On both sides of the border, Barrio Azteca gang members use violence, intimidation and fear to further their illegal activities. Lengthy prison sentences are an appropriate consequence and should cause would-be gang members to think twice about participating in such destructive activities."
The court also found that Cardona's offense involved more than 30 kilograms of heroin and 150 kilograms of cocaine. He directly imported large quantities of these drugs and sold them to retail drug dealers.
Cardona also participated in the BA's activities by distributing narcotics, including heroin and cocaine. He collected extortion funds that were sent to the commissary accounts of fellow BA members in prison.
A witness testified that Cardona would order beatings of other BA gang members and assaulted a drug dealer who would not pay extortion money. Other witness testimonies reported that members of the gang carried guns at meetings and used weapons in the course of violence.
One witness testified that he was contacted by Cardona in order to conduct extortions, assaults and kidnappings. One particular incident concerned the kidnapping of someone in El Paso to be delivered to Ciudad Juarez. The witness was arranged to meet the victim, assault, drug and blind him before transporting the victim to Juarez, the testimony reported.
"This sentence is a powerful step taken against trans-border violence, one that the FBI's El Paso Field Office has taken with partners at the federal, state and local levels," said FBI Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division Kevin Perkins. "Gangs like the Barrio Azteca represent threats to both Mexico and the United States, and together we have supported each other to investigate and prosecute criminals who affect us on both sides of the border."
Members of the gang took part in a multitude of criminal activity committed since Jan. 1, 2003 including drug trafficking, extortion and money laundering, according to court documents and testimony. The crimes include the March 13, 2010 murders in Juarez of U.S. consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton, her husband Arthur Redelfs and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of a U.S. consulate employee.
Thirty-five members and associates of the BA gang, including Cardona and 18 others who have pleaded guilty, were charged in a third superseding indictment unsealed in March 2011 with various counts of racketeering, murder, drug offenses, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Trial is set to begin April 6, 2012.
The Barrio Azteca gang began as a violent prison gang in the late 1980s before expanding into a transnational criminal organization, according to court documents and testimony.
The gang is primarily based in West Texas and Juarez, Mexico as well as throughout state and federal prisons in both countries.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:20:09 -0700
Deputies are investigating a crash where a truck was hit by a train in Dona Ana County Wednesday morning.
Sheriff's deputies said the crash happened after 4 a.m. near Pedro Madrid Road, just north of Thorpe Road.
The driver of the truck was traveling southbound on Dona Ana Road when deputies said he lost control and rolled onto the railroad tracks.
Before the train arrived, the driver escaped, said deputies.
The man, who hasn't been identified, was taken to an area hospital with unknown injuries.
Traffic in the area was restored by 10:15 a.m.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:14:36 -0700
The state's division over redistricting has forced a panel of U.S. district judges to push back the Texas primary.
The date had already been taken off of the calendar for next month's Super Tuesday primaries and pushed to April 3. The judges have decided that it is impossible to preserve the spring date and would like to hold the Texas primaries on May 22.
"Even though Texas is a red state, I still think every little bit counts," said Steven Rodriguez, who is a Democrat and thinks it's important for Texas to have a voice sooner rather than later.
"Taking that away would have a big impact," said Rodriguez.
But several Texas representatives and judges disagree with him. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez at one point suggested that a later date, like June 26, would make more sense. If held in the summer, the primary could reflect any voting rights acts and changes in the district maps.
The judges also suggested two separate primaries, which would mean adding an additional cost to the state budget.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:11:40 -0700
The Texas Rangers raided the home of Anthony, Texas, mayor, Art Franco on Tuesday. The FBI said it assisted with the investigation. The Department of Public Safety would only say that it is investigating Franco, but it won’t say why.
Franco told KFOX14 News that he’s confident that everything will turn out OK. He also wouldn’t say what the investigation was about.
“This started back when I ran for mayor last year,” Franco said. “It’s an ongoing investigation.”
KFOX14 News found out through a source that the investigation may have to do with misappropriations of funds and credit card abuse.
Franco said he spent Tuesday evening at a city council meeting.
"The council is behind me,” Franco said. “Hopefully the people are still behind me too."
Texas DPS said there has not been any arrest so far in this case.
If you have a story that you feel deserves media attention, contact Ric Dupont at ric.dupont@kfoxtv.com.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:20:59 -0700
Empty and abandoned, a so-called eyesore on El Paso's west side is getting demolished.
Bulldozers were busy Tuesday tearing down the old Coronado Motel.
There is no word on what the developer will do with the land once the motel is leveled.
The city shut it down months ago after finding multiple violations.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:52:35 -0700
Teen pregnancy is not a new problem in our community, but one that various state and federal agencies continue pouring millions of dollars a year into to stop. Yet El Paso teens continue to get pregnant at a higher rate than the rest of the state.
"Everybody says it's not going to happen because I was like that but it really does happen," said Amber Fuentes, who had her son, Christopher, when she was 17 and a high school dropout.
"I have nobody to give me money, I don't live with my parents and I have to go to school and I work and I still have a baby and it takes up all of your time," said Fuentes.
And it continues to happen all over El Paso. Seventy-nine out of every 1,000 teens in El Paso are pregnant. The state average if 65.
"When it comes down to it, we can provide all sorts of instruction, but tragically, when you're looking at issue of being together and alone who knows how the child is going to respond," said Tejas School of Choice Principal Juan Contreras. "There are no excuses and failure is not an option."
Tejas has teen parent programs that provide everything from day care to rides to school.
Having her son made Fuentes realize she had to go back to school, so she enrolled at Tejas, where many of El Paso's pregnant teens go to catch up and graudate---teens like Elizabeth Rivera, 17, who is a mother to 4-month-old Elias.
"It was pretty much hard to tell my mom, because I didn't know how she was going to react. I didn't know what to do," said Rivera. She said she was too afraid to ask her mom about birth control even though she was having regular sex with Elia's father.
Despite the fact that she, like most El Paso teens get abstinence-plus education in school, which means they are taught abstinence but also learn about birth control and condoms, but the teens we met said when it comes to sex ed, no one's really paying attention.
"I thought it was funny, I wasn't really used to talking about sex stuff and condoms, so it was kind of like a joke to me," said Valeria Delarosa, a teen mom pregnant with her second baby.
El Paso's high teen pregnancy rate has lasted several years, despite growing local and state efforts to bring those numbers down. There are teen pregnancy centers all around the city that help with birth control.
The teens we met, however, said those places are mostly where kids go once they're already pregnant.
"I don't think teens really take advantage of the programs, They just don't know what can happen or what's to come. They don't know how hard it is, "said Fuentes.
Jose Castrellon is the director of Catholic Counseling Services, which counsels pregnant teens and their families.
" The parents are not taking a sufficient responsibility in it and leaving it up to schools, yet they complain that the schools are teaching them something they might not like," said Castrellon.
He said even in El Paso's mostly Catholic households, sex ed needs to be a part of the conversation.
"It starts at home. We need to have conversations about dignity; that dignity includes all of their gifts and sexuality is just one of those gifts," said Castrellon.
But whether a parental issue or a societal one, the students I spoke with said the outcome for them was all the same. "
" It sounds bad, but sometimes they just need to experience it on their own to learn, " said Delarosa.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:14:58 -0700
The grandfather of the New Mexico State University student accused of threatening firefighters and trying to pepper-spray students on campus told KFOX14 that the man did it all because he was grieving the death of an ex-girlfriend.
"He's not feeling too good," Ruben Salais said. "His girlfriend died Jan. 4 and so he took it real hard."
Jason Salais, 25, is facing three fourth-degree felony counts and two petty misdemeanors. Police tracked the NMSU student down after he was arrested after a scuffle on campus in which he allegedly tried to pepper-spray people in front of the Corbett Center Student Union.
Police said before the incident at NMSU happened, Salais was outside his Gladys Drive home when he pointed what looked like a handgun at firefighters before following after them in his car.
Ruben Salais said that it wasn't an actual gun, but a toy.
"It was a black handgun," Las Cruces police spokesperson Dan Trujillo said. "Firefighters described it as a black handgun and that happens to be the same type of handgun that we found inside the center console of the vehicle he was driving."
Jason Salais is a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty to charges in 2007 for aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer.
Salais is facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, along with disorderly conduct and causing a public affray.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:59:16 -0700
Nearly two dozen dilapidated buildings scheduled to be demolished have a tentative date with a wrecking ball, or at least with the city's Building and Standards Commission.
City attorney outlines new regulations to meet U.S. Supreme Court ruling in July
There is a building near Copia and Alameda in south central El Paso that used to be a bar and what looks like a general store, but at one point was condemned and has since started falling apart, according to Bill Stern, who is with the Code Compliance Division of El Paso. Then, in 2010, it ended up basically self-imploding; the roof caving in, Stern said. Now, it's got a huge hole in the wall outside and is blocking a sidewalk and taking up a parking space.
With such a mess it seems, the city's Building and Standards Commission had wanted to demolish it, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling stopped a lot of scheduled demolitions across the nation, saying some of the practices, including El Paso's, didn't have due process or didn't give the building owners a fair chance to appeal. Now, the city's Attorney's Office has worked to revise the city's building code policies and presented them to the City Council today. Unless the City Council shoots down the revisions, the city's Code Compliance Division said nearly two dozen buildings will either be boarded up or demolished.
"We'll have to resubmit those to the Building and Standards Commission for reconsideration with new structural reports and new recommendations as to the activity that needs to take place at the buildings, and we'll be doing that within the next 60 days," Stern said.
This item is due to come up at the end of April and, if approved, owners of condemned buildings will be notified once again.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:00:45 -0700
Another parent comes forward after seeing a KFOX 14 report. She said her daughter also saw a man masturbating outside Burges High School in east El Paso.
"Jenna just called me. She's scared, she's with the cops, some man exposed himself," said Lisa Flores.
Flores remembers this call from her husband like it was yesterday.
"There was a gentleman in his car, masturbating," said Flores. "He got out of the car and kind of ran after one of the girls."
Flores said she reported the incident to police back in September when it first happened, but she said nothing came of it. Then she saw a KFOX 14 report Feb. 9 about a girl who also saw a man in the same spot outside Burges High masturbating.
"To me it's like they're waiting for something really, really bad to happen," said Flores. "I'm afraid a child a girl or boy, someone's going to get hurt. I was furious, furious, that that evening I put in a call to the detective. I didn't get a call back."
El Paso police said they are actively investigating two cases and El Paso Independent School District police are investigating one.
"We of course are looking at various sex offenders in the area. Trying to get any other type of detail," said Officer Javier Sambrano of the El Paso Police Department.
Sambrano said they understand it is a traumatic experience, but said when it comes to these cases specific details are limited.
"The descriptions given about the individual are different," said Sambrano.
Flores admits her daughter couldn't give the best description.
"It was a smaller model, kind of smaller car, with a checkered print on the side of the car," she said.
Flores' daughter also said he was tall and had a hat, but that's about all the teen could remember.
"After it happened she would cry and cry. She was scared. It was very traumatizing for her," said Flores.
Initially, parents and students KFOX 14 spoke to thought the alleged offender was the same man, but Flores said school officials told her it isn't. Flores and her daughter said regardless if it's one or multiple offenders, they don't want this to happen again, but Flores said school officials aren't doing much to help the situation.
"They could've sent us a message like that. Maybe they didn't have time call a meeting, but advise the parents, 'hey this is what's going on. Please talk to your child,'" said Flores.
School officials sent KFOX 14 this statement:
"Campus administration, EPISD Police and the El Paso Police Department began working together to investigate this case as soon as it was reported; and are continuing their investigation. EPISD Police continue to make extra patrols around the campus to ensure the safety of students at Burges. Students and community members should report any suspected criminal activities immediately to a police agency."
El Paso police also said it is important for anyone who spots suspicious activity to look for specific details from top to bottom on the vehicle and on the person. Sambrano said it is important though for anyone who spots the suspicious activity not to approach the person, but rather call 9-1-1 with a good description.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:53:06 -0700
A number of El Pasoans were stuck in a rush hour traffic jam after an east El Paso gas line break that closed a long stretch of I-10 but at the time didn't know what was going on.
El Paso Emergency Responders said they didn't send an alert to the 200,000 El Pasoans registered with the system, because it would be unsafe to have drivers answering a message on a cellphone.
"We don't want to advocate cellphone use while driving, especially when TXDOT was relaying the message through its electronic road signs," said El Paso Fire Chief Otto Drozd.
According to Drozd, the notification system can't notify everyone at once and it takes a number of hours to reach everyone registered, so by the time the responders could organize a message and send it to everyone, the roadways would be open again. The systems costs $78,000 per year to run. It was launched in 2011 right as the "February Freeze" was creeping into the borderland.
"At that time we started getting complaints from people who said we were notifying them too much," Drozd said. "Or they were getting calls at 3 o'clock in the morning because it takes a while for the system to get to everyone. The system is still relatively young and we have some kinks to work out."
Construction crews broke a natural gas line near Gateway East Boulevard and Corral Drive around 3:15 p.m. Monday. Nearly 350 people were evacuated and the eastbound lanes of I-10 were closed along with Gateway East Boulevard as a precaution to avoid an explosion. No one was seriously injured. The Texas Gas Service said an investigation is pending.
Tuesday morning a spokemans for Texas Gas Service said he could not confirm which contractor may have caused the break. Construction workers at the scene on Monday said they worked for Border Drilling, LLC. which was working to replace the gas line. KFOX 14 found public records showing a Border Drilling has a contract with TXDOT, but Leo Betancourt, director of operations for TXDOT, said his department had issued Texas Gas Service a permit to replace the gas lines along Gateway East Boulevard. The gas company hired the contractors, according to Betancourt. E.P. Seal-Rite Pipeline, Inc. was another company on scene at the time of the gas leak, according to a company manager who said the matter is still under investigation.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:47:44 -0700
A crowd of people who never even personally knew Brianna Lopez, also known as "Baby Brianna," came out to Dona Ana cemetery Tuesday for a memorial to honor what would have been her 10th birthday.
Brianna was just 5.5 months old when she died in July of 2002. She was raped and beaten by her father, Andrew Walters, and uncle, Steven Lopez.
Her mother, Stephanie Lopez, never reported the crimes. All three of them are now in prison.
"It's unbelievable that people would do something like that to anyone, let alone a child," mourner Josie Ostos said.
"Her memory needs to live long," children's advocate Orlando-Antonio Jimenez said.
A memorial of toys, cards and balloons sat on the grave site during the memorial.
Brianna's parents never took any actual photos of her while she was alive. The only photos of her were taken after she died, and they had to be digitally changed to erase her bruises.
Brianna's grave site remains covered in a metal cage alongside a wooden bench that was donated by the Remember Me Foundation in 2010.
"Tragic events like this happen, and we need to do things to prevent it and we all need to be aware," Dona Ana County District Attorney Amy Orlando said.
"We miss you, Brianna," Jimenez said.
After her death, Brianna's Law was passed, which gives anyone convicted of child abuse that ends in death a life sentence.
Orlando said there are currently two pending cases in the county to which the new law applies.
Brianna's Law was passed while Gov. Susana Martinez was Dona Ana County's district attorney. Martinez and Orlando were both prosecutors in Brianna's case.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:14:45 -0700
A family who used to live at the Lake Fairway apartments in East El Paso said they broke their lease to save their health.
Lorenzo Maesse and his wife said the problems inside their apartment started almost immediately after they moved in.
First it was the heater, which they saw took two months to fix, and then a flea problem from upstairs spread to their apartment.
The final straw, they said, was when a next-door neighbor's apartment flooded into theirs, destroying some property.
They said management wanted to clean it up and then have them stay inside the same apartment, but they said the humidity and mold were too much for their newborn baby, so they moved out.
"Our baby, for his health, he's only 3 weeks old, we don't need a reason to be boiling hot water, when they're supposed to be providing this with the rent," said Lorenzo Maesse.
The Lake Fairway management let them out of their lease but now Maesse wants his deposit back.
They've also filed a complaint with City Environmental services.
Coming up tonight at 9, what the city has to say about possible code violations at this complex.
KFOX has been trying for some time now to get a comment from the Lake Fairway management office. They told us they would be releasing a statement about the allegations today, Tuesday, but so far, we haven't received anything.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:00:43 -0700
A 32-year-old man was found dead outside an El Paso business, and police need help finding his family.
Cameron Mitchell Hannum was found dead Saturday outside a building at 1535 Bassett Ave., police said.
They said they don't suspect foul play.
Detectives need help locating Hannum's family. If you have information, you're asked to call police at 915-832-4400.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:46:27 -0700
Police need help getting in contact with family members of a woman who was found dead inside her apartment.
Carmen Garcia, 88, was found inside her place at 9201 Cana Avenue on Feb. 2., police said.
Detectives said they don't suspect foul play in Garcia's death.
They're asking for the public's assistance in locating Garcia's family. If you have information, call 915-832-4400.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:43:19 -0700
A scuffle at an area McDonald's restaurant led to a teen's arrest after police said he took a handgun from a private security guard.
After 4 p.m. Feb. 13, Las Cruces police were called to the McDonald's restaurant located on El Paseo Road, where a private security guard was involved in a conflict with a group of teenage boys and had his firearm stolen.
Police said the security guard was patrolling when he saw a juvenile smoking a cigarette outside the restaurant. When the security guard confronted him, the juvenile approached the guard in a threatening manner, police said. The guard pushed him away but was punched by the juvenile in the face.
Two other juveniles joined in the scuffle, punching and kicking the guard until he fell to the ground, police said.
During the encounter, the guard's Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum became dislodged from the holster and slid across the concrete. Manuel Felix, 17, who was inside the restaurant when the skirmish started, grabbed the handgun and ran across the street, police said.
Felix tossed the handgun in a dumpster before attending a scheduled court hearing at the Families & Youth Inc. building located on Solano Drive, police said.
After the hearing, Felix returned to the dumpster, where we retrieved the handgun and buried it in his back yard, police said. Police said they recovered the handgun from the home.
Manuel Felix, 17, is charged with larceny of a firearm and tampering with evidence and is being held without bond at the Doña Ana County Detention Center.
Anyone with information about the other juveniles involved in the scuffle is asked to contact the Las Cruces Police Department.
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:25:17 -0700
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