Jose A. Ruiz in court for his sentencing hearing (KSAT screenshot) and Mercedes Losoya (Bexar County District Attorney’s Office)
A 27-year-old man in Texas will spend the remainder of his days behind bars for torturing and killing his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter in heinous fashion, inserting thumbtacks into her feet, smearing her face with dog feces, and beating her so badly that every visible surface of her skin was bruised or cut.
Bexar County District Court Judge Stephanie Boyd on Monday ordered Jose A. Ruiz to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility for the 2022 slaying of young Mercedes Losoya, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Prior to being sentenced, a jury found Ruiz guilty on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and seven counts of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury or death.
Katrina Rose Mendoza, Mercedes’ mother, was also arrested following the child’s death and charged with multiple felonies. She reached a deal with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office in which she agreed to plead guilty to one count of assault on a child by omission in exchange for dropping more serious charges.
As part of her plea deal, Mendoza was required to testify against Mendoza during his criminal trial.
“He would pull Mercedes’ hair and cover her mouth and nose. Use thumbtacks on her feet,” she told jurors, according to a report from San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT. “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.”
Dr. Rajesh Kannan, who conducted Mercedes’ autopsy, testified on Monday about the victim’s injuries.
“This child suffered trauma,” the doctor said, per Texas Public Radio. “It’s extensive. From top to bottom. All over the body.”
An emergency room nurse who was present when Mercedes was brought to the hospital reportedly testified that the little girl had bruises covering her body from “head to toe” on both her “front and back.”
“She was a fighter. She was a second child,” Assistant District Attorney Brittany Mitchell told jurors last week, according to a report from the San Antonio Express-News. “Jose (Ruiz) said, ‘Give her to me, I’ll show her discipline.’ But it was abuse. Jose (Ruiz) took it to a whole new level of cruelty.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Mendoza on Feb. 7, 2022, brought an unresponsive Mercedes to Southwest General Hospital in San Antonio. Doctors attempted to resuscitate Mercedes but she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The medical team noted that Mercedes had sustained “visible injuries” and notified police about the suspicious nature of her wounds. Officers with the San Antonio Police responded to the scene produced a disturbing report about the provenance of Mercedes’ injuries.
Per a probable cause affidavit, Mercedes had sections of hair missing that appeared to have been ripped out of her head. She had also suffered extensive “bruises, scratches, cuts, and swelling on every visible portion of her body” as well as cuts and swelling on both of her hands that appeared to be defensive wounds, police said.
The child’s legs and feet were also battered with the bottoms of her feet having tiny puncture wounds on them and she was missing several toenails, authorities said.
“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,” the affidavit said.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Mercedes and told police that it was “obvious the victim suffered extreme abuse and torture,” according to the affidavit. Mercedes’ injuries were so numerous that the medical examiner said there was “no clear or obvious injury that caused the victim’s death” and that “further investigation would be required to make a conclusion as to the cause and manner.”
In an interview with investigators, Mendoza 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.
Mendoza told police that she witnessed Ruiz, shoving dog feces into Mercedes’ mouth as he screamed at her 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.
Mendoza continued with shocking allegations of physical abuse and corporal punishment that included punching the child with closed fists while wearing multiple rings. She said Ruiz also forced the child to stand in place while holding “heavy objects” during a video call in the weeks before her death. She said Mercedes was crying while she held the objects.
Ruiz told police that when it came to Mercedes he merely “slapped her on the a–” and made her stand in the corner. He also blamed all of Mercedes’ injuries on Mendoza — except for the missing portions of hair, which he claimed were pulled out by Mercedes’ 6-year-old sister.
Mendoza’s sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. She is facing between five and 45 years in prison.
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