Sentenced: Mother, Boyfriend Tortured 5YO Girl In Weeks Leading To Her Death

[Sugar Cookie]

A 22-year-old mother and her boyfriend are behind bars after San Antonio police said they allegedly abused a 5-year-old girl, leading to her death.

According to SAPD Officer Ricardo Guzman, Katrina Rose Mendoza and Jose Angel Ruiz, 25, are both charged with one count of injury to a child - serious bodily injury.

The charge stems from an incident on Feb. 7, when Mendoza took her child to an area hospital, unresponsive with “visible injuries,” police said. It’s unclear what those injuries were, but the child later died at the hospital after medical staff attempted to revive her.

Homicide detectives were notified of the child’s death, and they launched an investigation. SAPD said detectives found evidence that linked Mendoza to the child’s injuries.

On Thursday, Mendoza was taken from Public Safety Headquarters to the Bexar County Jail.

Ruiz is also charged with one count of injury to a child, which is in addition to other charges he’s currently facing from separate incidents.

According to an arrest affidavit, the 5-year-old child had “visible bruises, scratches, cuts, and swelling on almost every visible part of her body.” Authorities said her injuries appeared to be at different stages of healing, indicating “continuous physical abuse over a period of time.” However, medical personnel did not confirm this.

In an interview, Mendoza told police the alleged abuse started three weeks before the child’s death when she called Ruiz and asked for help with disciplining her child.

Ruiz arrived at Mendoza’s home, and she placed the five-year-old in the back of his vehicle, according to an affidavit. Ruiz drove away with the child and later video called Mendoza.

The child was seen crying while holding up a heavy object, police said. Mendoza told the child she had to keep holding the heavy object as part of her punishment, the affidavit states. It’s unknown how long the child held the object.

Authorities said a few days passed before Mendoza saw the child and Ruiz again. When Mendoza saw the child, she had bruising on her face and had bruises and cuts on her inner thighs, according to an affidavit.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Mendoza and her two children moved into Ruiz’s apartment. She told police she witnessed several other instances of alleged abuse to her child from Ruiz.

Mendoza’s other child, a six-year-old girl, was removed from her family’s custody and is currently in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, an affidavit states.

Ruiz spoke to detectives and admitted to punishing the 5-year-old child, but he claimed Mendoza was the one who allegedly beat the child. Police said Ruiz “appeared to be deflecting responsibility for his actions onto Mendoza and the victim’s sister.” Ruiz was later booked on the injury to a child charge.

Couple charged in connection with 5-year-old girl’s death, police say

A 22-year-old mother and her boyfriend are behind bars after San Antonio police said they allegedly abused a 5-year-old girl, leading to her death.

www.ksat.com

The 5-year-old girl was missing sections of hair and had visible bruises, scratches, cuts and swelling on every visible portion of her body. Her hands were bruised and swollen from what appeared to be defensive wounds, police said. Her ears were bruised. She had scratches and cuts on her neck.

“The victim’s legs were covered with bruises, some of which appeared to be patterned, which is what is commonly seen when belts or other objects are used to inflict injury," according to the affidavit.

Her ankles and feet were bruised and swollen and she was missing toe nails.

The mom described how she saw Ruiz pick up dog feces and put it inside the victim’s mouth, yelling at her. She also described to police a time that Ruiz soaked a sock in urine and forced it into the victim’s mouth. She said Ruiz pulled the sock out of her mouth aggressively, causing her to lose two teeth in the process. The mom also described times that Ruiz would hit the victim with a belt or use his hands, on which he was wearing rings on his fingers which caused bruises and cuts on the victim.

Ruiz told police that he only “slapped her on the a--” and put her in a corner or had her keep her arms raised. He claimed the mom is the one who abused the victim. He also told police that the victim’s 6-year-old sister is the one who pulled out the victim’s hair.

Police said the victim’s 6-year-old sister was interviewed and she provided additional details that were consistent with the statements from the mom.

An autopsy was performed on the victim and officials advised police it was clear the child had suffered extreme abuse and torture, according to an arrest affidavit. The 6-year-old child has been removed from the family and placed in the care of the state due to the nature of this investigation.

5-year-old dead after suffering severe abuse, mother, boyfriend arrested

SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio mother and her boyfriend have been arrested after they allegedly inflicted extreme abuse and tortured a 5-year-old girl, who died from her injuries, according to an arrest affidavit and police. 5-year-old Mercedes Losoya was taken toSouthwest General Hospital...

foxsanantonio.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Mercedes Losoya

 

[Hermy]

Mercedes was a five-year old being a five-year old.

Ruiz was 20 years older but had less maturity than she did. As for mom, it's too bad her father didn't pull out in time.

 

[Busy Bee]

Remove the male monsters claws and toe claws, as nurishment he should drink his own urine and eat his own shit. See how long he lasts. Same for the female monster . Both confined in a 4x4dark smelly cage, neither fix for life in free society, both are evil monsters,

 

[Sugar Cookie]

The mom described how she saw Ruiz pick up dog feces and put it inside the victim’s mouth, yelling at her. She also described to police a time that Ruiz soaked a sock in urine and forced it into the victim’s mouth. She said Ruiz pulled the sock out of her mouth aggressively, causing her to lose two teeth in the process. The mom also described times that Ruiz would hit the victim with a belt or use his hands, on which he was wearing rings on his fingers which caused bruises and cuts on the victim.

She won't get it but mom deserves the death penalty.

She knowingly and willingly allowed her daughter to be tortured.

I also don't believe that she herself did not participate in the abuse.

 

[McDanel]

She did participate, by doing absolutely nothing.

 

[Sevens My Charm]

Testimonies have emerged from neighbors who said they had called the San Antonio Police Department and Child Protective Services on several occasions to report the violence they heard and saw.

Gabriel Granado, one of the neighbors of the apartment where the minor lived, recounted: “My first report was in November, after Thanksgiving, when we began to hear incidents. “We’ve been hearing banging, it sounds like a fist bumping the hand. Over the last 2 weeks, I’d say 50 hits like that,” he explained.

Granado and his fiancee Gabriela Iturbe are neighbors of José Ángel Ruiz, boyfriend of Katrina Rose Mendoza, Mercedes’ mother. “I called the police several times,” says Iturbe. “The last time was Saturday morning. I knew this time something was a little different.”

The woman said that she had previously witnessed another incident of physical abuse by Mendoza with her daughter, when she kicked her in the parking lot of the apartment. “He physically kicked her in the side and of course we called (SAPD), and it wasn’t the only time.”Iturbe says.

Despite the fact that the neighbors contacted the authorities several times after hearing and seeing the abuse of the minor, Mercedes was never removed from that home. Granado said they did what they could to help her, but he lost faith that authorities would do anything about it.

The couple notes that the abuse has intensified in recent days, prompting the latest call to police.

“They (SAPD) sent someone. But they (Ruiz and Mendoza) did not open the doorso they did nothing,” says Iturbe.

According to the doctors, Mercedes’ body had multiple bruises and scratches. In addition, he was missing hair, had lost teeth and toenails. She also showed signs of trauma and physical abuse on his body. Although so far the autopsy has not been revealed.

Both Katrina Rose Mendoza, mother of the minor, and her partner, José Ángel Ruiz, are detained in connection with the death of the girl. Both blame each other as responsibleof subjecting the girl to various types of child abuse.

The woman points out that her partner put dog feces in the mouth of the minor, as well as a stocking with urine. She also points to him as the one responsible for ripping out two of her teeth and hitting her with a belt and rings.

For his part, the accused assured that Mendoza and his other daughter, a 6-year-old girl, were responsible for the injuries suffered by Mercedes, the police detailed.

Neighbors tried to save her ..

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A 23-year-old mother from Texas will likely spend several decades behind bars after admitting to killing her 5-year-old daughter, subjecting the child to what authorities called “extreme abuse and torture” before her death.

Katrina Rose Mendoza on Monday pleaded guilty to one count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, a first-degree felony, for her role in the brutal 2022 death of young Mercedes Losoya, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.

Based on the charge, Mendoza would have been facing a maximum possible sentence of life in prison, but she and her defense attorney reached a deal with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office in which prosecutors agreed to cap her sentence at 45 years in exchange for her admission of guilt.

Mendoza and her then-boyfriend, 27-year-old Jose Angel Ruiz, were both arrested in February 2022 following Mercedes’ death. Ruiz has pleaded not guilty to one count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and is scheduled to go to trial in October, records show.

District Judge Stephanie Boyd on Monday announced that she would hold off on formally sentencing Mendoza until after Ruiz’s trial is completed, according to a report from the San Antonio Express-News. Additionally, Mendoza reportedly applied for deferred adjudication probation, a move that prosecutors have already come out against.

In an interview with investigators, Mendoza allegedly accused Ruiz of subjecting Mercedes to horrific abuse in the three weeks since she, Mercedes, and her 6-year-old daughter moved into his home.

In a particularly disturbing admission, Mendoza told police that she witnessed Ruiz “shovel dog feces into the victim’s mouth as he yelled at the child” and “did the same thing with a sock soaked in urine.” She further claimed that Ruiz aggressively pulled the sock from Mercedes’ mouth with such force that he ripped out two of her teeth.

Continue reading at link

Mom admits to 'extreme abuse and torture' that killed 5-year-old, who was allegedly forced to eat dog feces and had urine-soaked sock stuffed in her mouth

Katrina Rose Mendoza pleaded guilty to injury to a child in the horrific death of her 5-year-old daughter, who authorities say endured "extreme abuse and torture."

lawandcrime.com

 

[Crazy Cat Lady]

It only took him three weeks to kill that beautiful little girl.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Just horrible - It seems Texas does nor value or protect it's children

 

[Freyja]

I hope their fellow inmates know exactly what they did to this precious little girl.

 

[GoneWest]

I want to know why there’s been no follow up on the failure of CPS and the police department. If what they are saying is true the neighbors did everything possible to save this poor child to no avail. How is this allowed and why aren’t they being investigated?

 

[HijabiGirl]

How does one turn off the bond and love they've formed for their child after only knowing a new penis for a few months? If anyone ever laid a hand on my kids I would be in prison. To watch your child be tortured and do nothing....there isn't a space in my brain for that. This poor girl.

 

[GoneWest]

How does one turn off the bond and love they've formed for their child after only knowing a new penis for a few months? If anyone ever laid a hand on my kids I would be in prison. To watch your child be tortured and do nothing....there isn't a space in my brain for that. This poor girl.

You will never find answers for questions such as these, because there truly isn’t one. This behavior defies all humanity.

 

[Ali Click]

I wonder if they abused the sister too or just singled out Mercedes? One article said the 6 year old is bf's daughter, and Mercedes had a different last name; Mercedes was 5, sister was 6. So if 6 year old is truly bf's daughter, it means a year after having the sister, mom got knocked up by someone else before getting back together with douche.. which would explain why they singled Mercedes out. But other articles say both kids were mom's. Can anyone clarify?

 

[DivineRAiN]

How does one turn off the bond and love they've formed for their child after only knowing a new penis for a few months? If anyone ever laid a hand on my kids I would be in prison. To watch your child be tortured and do nothing....there isn't a space in my brain for that. This poor girl.

Ya, I used to wonder how some mothers could turn against their own children for a new man. Lie to everyone to protect the new guy.. like the nurse did when her daughter had an std everywhere. When her daughter was dying, protecting her boyfriend was still her number 1 priority.
Sometimes I think about a thread on here where some messages (before the boyfriend killed his girlfriend's daughter) was posted. A lot of their arguments were about how harsh he punished the toddler. At some point he broke up with her. He told someone in a message that he couldn't love or raise a child that wasn't his. Of course they got back together n he went back to babysitting until he killed the child. He wanted the girlfriend but he couldn't stand her child. She wanted to be with him with some idea they would be a family n he would be her child's daddy. I figured after they got back together she stopped arguing with him over the harsh punishments just to keep him there.
A few cases I've read started off with arguments over the harsh punishments.. like the woman who left her daughter with her boyfriend to start training? She got on him about the black eye instead of kicking him out of her daughter's life. She wasn't ok with it. She was still a careless idiot to leave her daughter with some guy who had already given her a black eye.
But that's a few. I can't remember the other one.
For the others, the women are as fucked up as the men. Sorry Gabriel. But I believe there was something fucked up about that so called mother before she started to have kids. Maleah's mother has that fucked up vibe.. I will always believe Maleah was murdered before that bitch left the apartment. This monster here has that same fucked up vibe. She never loved her daughter.
Having babies and deciding to keep them doesn't always mean these babies were really loved.
The mother who let her boyfriend beat her son over a weekend while she had herself a pedicure and I heard she had her hair done, that shows just how fucked up she is as a mother, a woman. Monsters are just out there breeding.
One thread was kinda scary because it took a woman less than 3 months to find a guy who would abuse her son that she had while in prison. She was in prison for the death of her baby while she was pregnant again. Less than 3 months she was locked up again for abusing her son. The boyfriend looked a bit straight laced, but was ok with tying up the boy n kicking him.. assaulting him. As a single mother with a daughter who is going to turn 11 next month, it just makes me wonder if there's just too many guys out there who want to hurt children.

 

[agm8478]

Remove the male monsters claws and toe claws, as nurishment he should drink his own urine and eat his own shit. See how long he lasts. Same for the female monster . Both confined in a 4x4dark smelly cage, neither fix for life in free society, both are evil monsters,

If only we could sterilize meatsacks like this. I firmly believe if we neutered people convicted of child abuse it would be an effective deterrent.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

This bitch better not get probation!

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.

Ex-girlfriend of man on trial in her daughter’s death testifies against him

The ex-girlfriend of a man accused of physically abusing and torturing her 5-year-old daughter testified against him in court Thursday.

www.ksat.com

She stayed because she was a selfish bitch.

I see this bitch is not missing any meals in jail.

 

[Crazy Cat Lady]

I hope this wildebeest gets 45 years in prison.

 

[agm8478]

Ya, I used to wonder how some mothers could turn against their own children for a new man. Lie to everyone to protect the new guy.. like the nurse did when her daughter had an std everywhere. When her daughter was dying, protecting her boyfriend was still her number 1 priority.
Sometimes I think about a thread on here where some messages (before the boyfriend killed his girlfriend's daughter) was posted. A lot of their arguments were I’ve never understood how about how harsh he punished the toddler. At some point he broke up with her. He told someone in a message that he couldn't love or raise a child that wasn't his. Of course they got back together n he went back to babysitting until he killed the child. He wanted the girlfriend but he couldn't stand her child. She wanted to be with him with some idea they would be a family n he would be her child's daddy. I figured after they got back together she stopped arguing with him over the harsh punishments just to keep him there.
A few cases I've read started off with arguments over the harsh punishments.. like the woman who left her daughter with her boyfriend to start training? She got on him about the black eye instead of kicking him out of her daughter's life. She wasn't ok with it. She was still a careless idiot to leave her daughter with some guy who had already given her a black eye.
But that's a few. I can't remember the other one.
For the others, the women are as fucked up as the men. Sorry Gabriel. But I believe there was something fucked up about that so called mother before she started to have kids. Maleah's mother has that fucked up vibe.. I will always believe Maleah was murdered before that bitch left the apartment. This monster here has that same fucked up vibe. She never loved her daughter.
Having babies and deciding to keep them doesn't always mean these babies were really loved.
The mother who let her boyfriend beat her son over a weekend while she had herself a pedicure and I heard she had her hair done, that shows just how fucked up she is as a mother, a woman. Monsters are just out there breeding.
One thread was kinda scary because it took a woman less than 3 months to find a guy who would abuse her son that she had while in prison. She was in prison for the death of her baby while she was pregnant again. Less than 3 months she was locked up again for abusing her son. The boyfriend looked a bit straight laced, but was ok with tying up the boy n kicking him.. assaulting him. As a single mother with a daughter who is going to turn 11 next month, it just makes me wonder if there's just too many guys out there who want to hurt children.

Someone please explain to me why it matters whether the child is biologically related to you? I cannot fathom why so many people seem to make a distinction between “they’re not MY child” or they’re related by blood?
It’s a distinction without a difference. Or am I missing something??

 

[McDanel]

For some, blood relationship is all that can make a child endurable.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Man want to have sex with the mother the child is in the way either figuratively or literally to many of these men.

The same can be said for women dating men with children - but somehow I think it is more about the child belonging to another woman the man was with.

Sadly some mothers and fathers only care about a child while they are still with the other parent of said child

They will make the new partner a surrogate parent which the new partner may not be able to or want to do.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

San Antonio police detective Lawrence Saiz took the witness stand.

The prosecution played audio of an interview between Saiz and Ruiz, which revealed a defendant who shifted much of the blame for the injuries on Mendoza and Losoya’s sister.

Saiz didn’t buy the argument, who had talked to Mendoza prior to Ruiz about a different timeline of events.

“You know what I saw when I first saw Mercedes? Somebody, some devil had been abusing and torturing this little girl,” Saiz said. “You know you did it.”

In the interview, Ruiz stressed he did not torture Losoya. He said the extent of discipline he did was spanking Losoya and at times pinching her.

“I don’t think there’s people who have been war prisons who have been treated the way she probably was,” Saiz said.

Ruiz told investigators he and Mendoza witnessed Losoya struggling to breathe as food came out of her mouth and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Ruiz claimed he attempted CPR multiple times. The couple decided to take her to the hospital instead of calling 911, according to the interview.

Shortly after Losoya’s death, KENS 5 interviewed family members who alleged the abuse began shortly after she was born. Attempts to gain legal custody of Losoya due to the apparent neglect failed.

"Bruising, bruises, all on her face, her arms and everything," said Mercedes' paternal grandmother, Vanessa Losoya, who added that Mercedes once got a haircut with bangs to cover the bruising on her forehead.

'You know you did it' | Graphic photos of 5-year-old Mercedes Losoya revealed in trial of man charged with her death

Jose Ruiz appeared stoic as the prosecution team had a San Antonio police detective guide the jury through the extensive injuries on the little girl's body.

www.kens5.com

The mom is just as guilty as him and does not deserve any mercy for testifying against him

 

[McDanel]

Plus, the drive to reproduce is all about your own genetic material. There's no genetic benefit to raising offspring that will compete with your own. The new leader of the pride will try to kill the kittens of his predecessor. This behavior is so old, so primitive, that it probably resides in the limbic region of the brain.

 

[Ella Mayo]

Some people just need killing.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A Texas man was given a life sentence two years after officials say he severely abused his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter, leading to her death.

On Feb. 7, 2022, Katrina Mendoza brought her unresponsive 5-year-old daughter, Mercedes Losoya, to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to an arrest affidavit.

At first, when officials examined Mercedes’ body, they found sections of hair missing and “bruises, scratches, cuts and swelling on almost every visible portion of her body,” the affidavit said.

There also appeared to be small puncture wounds on the bottoms of her feet, officials said.

Authorities said they soon uncovered a case of “extreme abuse and torture.”

When Mendoza was questioned by authorities, she said her boyfriend, Jose Ruiz, abused Mercedes, according to officials.

On Monday, March 18, a jury found Ruiz guilty of seven counts of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

“She was a fighter. She was a second child,” prosecutor Brittany Mitchell told jurors, according to the outlet. “Jose said, ‘Give her to me, I’ll show her discipline.’ But it was abuse. Jose took it to a whole new level of cruelty.”

Shortly after his guilty verdict, Ruiz was sentenced to life in prison, plus 20 years for aggravated assault, and 10 years for each of the remaining six counts, news outlets reported.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/national/article286914830.html#storylink=cpy

The mother has not been sentenced yet.

 

[GoneWest]

In a million years I would never have guessed that sow was the same bitch from first post. It’s like her ugly insides seeped out to match her outside.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Thank goodness she was held accountable

A judge on Monday sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison in connection with the torture death of her 5-year-old daughter.

The sentence handed down by 187th District Court Judge Stephanie Boyd was the maximum punishment allowed by law to Katrina Mendoza, who accepted a plea deal to a charge of injury of a child with serious bodily injury.

Mother sentenced to 45 years in prison for torture death of 5-year-old daughter

A judge on Monday sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison in connection with the torture death of her 5-year-old daughter.

www.ksat.com

 

[onthehalfshell]

The part where great-grandmother reads a statement from Mercedes' sister and says she is afraid her mother will come and take her back to Jose's house. Heartbreaking.