They looked like celebrities inundated by paparazzi. I showed the letters and samples of Javiers handwriting to several forensic document examiners. The girls father, Javier Limon, who had dated her sister Rosemary before a messy breakup, had been making advances toward her, she said. Kristies parents were divorced and her mother, like Elizabeths, was uncomfortable with her daughters sexual orientation. Ramirez theorized at the time that Javier Limon, her sister Rosemary's ex-boyfriend and her nieces' father was upset with her because she rejected his many romantic overtures after he went through a bad breakup with her sister, the Texas Observer reported. The bottom line is this, prosecutor Philip Kazen countered: VL was very clear about specifics in terms of time, place, and content of the sexual assault. Kazen, who is now a judge, didnt respond to multiple interview requests. She said that her father, Javier Limon, and her grandmother, Serafina Limon, hit the ceiling when they found out Ramirez and her friends had come out as lesbiana risky move in 1990s San Antonio. There was a problem saving your notification. So she decided to tell her lawyer about Javier. Then one day while he was at work, his mother, Serafina Limon, was cooking while the girls played outside. This is a carousel. Rosemary got a job supervising the cleaning staff at the courthouse downtown. Javier said that Stephanie had taken advantage of his kindness. By the time of VL and Stephanies outcries, these public dramas had largely died out, though Dr. Kellogg, in her exam notes, had written, this could be satanic-related. Nathan told me it was probably the last time anyone wrote in the record, This looks satanic., She checked Ottos background, since it seemed strange that he was so interested in the case. defense attorney Michael Scott asked. Javier did not testify, but told me unequivocally, There was no gun.), Sometimes truth is different, Ruiz told the jury. Serafina had said Elizabeth was suspiciously dour when she brought the girls back after the week at the apartment. Cassies son and daughter continued to drive three hours up Interstate 35 to visit her in prison, but Elizabeth had lost contact with her son when he was 5 and his father obtained custody. VL claimed that the court reporter must have incorrectly taken down her remarks at Elizabeths trial. What happened to javier limon san antonio Opublikowane przez w dniu 6 listopada 2020 The new film Freedom Fighterpart of the 75th anniversary series Bob Marley Legacyexamines Marley as a symbol of human rights with a voice more powerful than any politician. It doesnt mean were all intimate together, had any kind of sexual togetherness., The trial lasted only a couple of days. In the spare, gray courtroom, Cassie, who often wore denim overalls, had on a black dress with white flowers. From the bathroom, she heard screams from her younger sister. A friend had brought 10 outfits on hangers, including black slacks and blouses in various shades of blue and gold, so the women could pick what theyd like to wear.. Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. Javiers advances toward Elizabeth are corroborated by her family, but so too are his denials corroborated by his own family members. She tried to get out, but the door was locked. He may even take the stand and say again what he has always repeated, that he did what any parent would do. Anna Vasquez talks with mother Maria Vasquez, center, and friend Denise Tristan, left, as they celebrate Thanksgiving with family members at her mother's house, her first after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. The crowd followed the women down the jail steps. It wasnt something easily picked up by the wires.. The girl's father, Javier Limon, claims that shortly after bringing them back to San Antonio from Denver in 1992, they were caught acting out sexually with dolls, which led to their disclosing these events to him. They scribbled the events of the week, as the women remember, on a large white poster board in a grid organized by woman and by day. In September 2015, Morris texted Alejandre, telling her to show up to court for her drug possession for sale charges, along with special gang enhancements, she testified. They were all arrested and convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child. The cluster reassembled. More letters followed, each one taking about two weeks between his home and Elizabeths prison in Marlin. Limon was her sisters ex-boyfriend, and the two daughters were her 7- and 9-year-old nieces. Guards at the rural prison stared in surprise at his Canadian ID card. Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. Anna Vasquez, left, sits next to long time friend Denise Tristan as the family prepares to play a game of loteria, a traditional Mexican game. Everything she does is camouflaged, he said, adding that she probably made a deal with Rosemary, her mother, for money or other help. Little Liz! Her father had left, but the rest of Elizabeths large familythree brothers, two sisterswas tight and affectionate. His parents were Salvador Allende supporters and he recalled what happened in a Reddit Ask Me Anything. After she turned 16, Elizabeth began to stay out later, experiment with drugs, date boys and fight with her mother, Gloria. Eventually the two would move in together, and Anna would treat Cassies two kids as her own. Detective Matjeka had little or no experience interviewing children who making complaints of sexual . Yeah, theyre all gay and were friends, but that doesnt mean its a gay relationship. She immediately denied the accusation. I miss everyone cause Im not able to see and be home with them, one read, but most of all I miss my son. Six months before graduation, overwhelmed with her work schedule, she dropped out of high school. That incident was said to have happened during a visit Aug. 1 to the home of Javier Limon, Stephanie Limon Martinez's father, in Stafford, according to court testimony. Javier Limn (born 1973) is a record producer, singer and songwriter born and raised in Madrid, Spain.Limn has worked with several artists, mainly from Spain, since he incorporates elements of flamenco rhythm to his work. She would do the same thing if somebody was hurting her child., Elizabeth herself, several months earlier, had said nearly the same words. She had just gotten home from a shift at Arbys, where she had recently been promoted to manager. In her original statement to police, there had been no gun, but now there was one. Swimming with the kids. Two days after their release, the women appeared at a hastily arranged press conference. Matjeka told Elizabeth that if she had committed a crime, her sondue in about five monthswould probably be taken by the authorities. I tried writing the innocence projects and Oprah and Maury Povich and Montel, Anna told me, anybody who would listen. Today, Vasquez works with the Texas Innocence Project to overturn other wrongful convictions. And the letters? Grandma, I cant tell you because something happened, and they threatened me, the girl said, as Serafina later related to a jury. She wanted a relationship with me. Elizabeths friends say she could have done more to reject Javiers advances. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story: This article was originally published by the, Articles cannot be rewritten, edited or changed beyond alignments with house style books. The prosecutors, as well as Javier when we spoke 15 years later, accounted for the inconsistencies by saying the girls were young children who could hardly be expected to keep facts straight. Kristie Mayhugh is at Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Liz kind of distanced herself from all of us, Kristie recalled. She was still leaking milk when the police took her to jail. While working at H-E-B, she got to know Kristie Mayhugh, who was born in Montana and moved to San Antonio at age 3 when her father was transferred to the Randolph Air Force Base. Surrounded by cameras from local and national media outlets, the women thanked the DAs office and the media for letting us tell our story. They also thanked Darrell Otto, over and over again, though none of the reporters asked about him. Gentry was a minister, and though he had told the lawyers he believed homosexuality to be a sin, he also said this belief wouldnt cloud his judgment. In October, Child Protective Services was given emergency custody of the couple's three children, all younger than 3. In November, Anna was released on parole. She also noted that while she did regularly use and sell drugs, she only sold the substances to support her children, and wasn't paying taxes to gangs, or to Morales. Jarrett Morris, who told her she could be facing drug trafficking charges and could lose her kids. At screenings of Deborah Esquenazis documentary footage, she wooed supporters. San Antonio police arrested Zion J. Limon, 20, in connection with the shootings. She spoke to reporters at her childhood home, a small bungalow where the street dead-ends at a muddy creek. Cassie, who worked at AutoZone and frequented car shows, thought about becoming a mechanic. He knew what was going to hurt me the most, she told me. A modern tale of colonial-style persecution follows four Latina lesbiansElizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquezwrongfully convicted of sexual assault in the mid-1990s. Elizabeth was completely lost in the huddle. Since the early 1980s, the United States had seen numerous accusations, investigations and trials of daycare workers and other adults for supposedly engaging in ritual satanic abuse, including the rape, murder and torture of children. But the pool of advocates for the women was growing. After Cassandra went to prison, her mother got a white puppy and named it Teddy Bear. Vasquez along with three other women are fighting for exoneration from a 1994 sexual assualt case. At the station, Matjeka asked if she knew a man named Javier Limon and his two daughters. This makes us one of the biggest by prevailing local standards. Elizabeth still wasnt sure what she wanted to do, and she struggled with her new identity. Then, only a couple minutes later, the spokesman came back out breathless. In the midst of her legal troubles, Elizabeth gave birth to her son. It was hard for me to really get my mind around what they had been accused of doing, he recalled. Her lawyer, Casie Gotro, is at left. She was so trusting, so lovable. Elizabeths sister Monica said, If Liz was a different person she would have had him arrested or placed a restraining order.. Please notify us by email that the article will be republished at, I Confronted the Man Whose Crime Put Me in Prison, Observer Radio Episode 50: Greg Abbott Had a Rough Week, Border Security Is a Financial Black Hole that Will Consume Us All. Shifts at AutoZone. There were liquids and powders and different things. There were syringes and vials of white powder. So he traveled to Texas to get a better sense of who she was. Now it was Anna who had wielded the gun, not Elizabeth. That was the last time they spoke. His parents sought asylum in Venezuela when he was five after dictator Augusto Pinochet rose to power. By late 2013, he had cycled through several careers and was working for a security company and studying criminal justice at a community college in Stafford, near Houston. Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. Did anyone pull out a butcher knife? the couple's lawyer, Casie Gotro, asked her. Had someone died? Anna Vasquez, left, appears safe in her brother Robert Vasquez's arms as she returned home after serving 12 and a half years in prison. The crowd cheered. At H-E-B they met Cassie Rivera, who, before coming to terms with her attraction to other women, had a son and a daughter and then split with their father. Gloria Herrera, left, and her daughter Elizabeth Ramirez in a photo taken during a visit in prison. When Ramirez rebuffed him, her family claimed, Limon retaliated by. We rely on the generosity of our readers who believe that this work is important. Ramirez told the court that the accusations against her and her friends came after she spurned his advances for marriage. Elizabeths lawyer, Freddy Ruiz, tried to get VL to say that she was mixed up, and that the gun had actually been wielded by her father Javier in Colorado. I love them. Gloria has no unkind words to say about her daughter, but she never describes her as shrewd. But Elizabeth soon found problems there as well. When Javier got home, the girls told him the whole shocking story of being held down and raped, he said. For 20 years, Elizabeth Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez have fought to prove their innocence. Gay rights activists treated them like rock stars. Alejandre testified that she was told by Morales that Limon was killed because he avoided paying money he collected from drug transactions and went into hiding. Spending on cops and tech at the border has increased ninefold in a decade. There had been other little kidsCassies kids and some neighborsin the apartment throughout the week, but now she was adamant that she and her sister had been the only children. His sister, Cristina, became increasingly angry as she told me, I remember [Javiers older daughter] telling me that they touched them, moving their hands back and forth down there. Anna Vasquez, recently released on parole, speaks at a Work-In-Progress screening of "San Antonio Four" a documentary by Deborah S. Esquenazi, about Vasquez and three of her friends, who are still in prison, found guilty of sexual assault of two minors. They would barbecue at the park on weekends and take trips to a nearby lake. Anna had seen Elizabeth unable to deal with the interests of men before. Ramirezs two nieces, then 7 and 9, accused all four women of attacking and raping them with objects when the girls visited Ramirezs apartment in the summer of 1994. Limon Martinez was just 7 when she and her older sister said the women sexually assaulted them. Aunt Liz produced a gun. Elizabeth Ramirez, right, and Cassandra Rivera are both in the Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas. She served 12 and a half years. Elizabeth knew that being a lesbian would make her an outsider in her conservative Catholic family. Anna Vasquez, right, enjoys a laugh with her brother David Vasquez and her mother Maria Vasquez over a plate of turkey dinner as they celebrate her first Thanksgivings after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. In early February 1997, Elizabeth sat at the defendants table as the judge stated the charges against her: aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. Did you threaten him with pepper spray? the lawyer asked. Elizabeth Ramirez (clockwise from top left), Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez -- the San Antonio Four -- are all out on bond or parole, but face new trials. Anna Vasquez had played sports with Elizabeth in high school. He was an ex-boyfriend of Ramirez's sister who the family said had made romantic advances toward the much younger Ramirez. Anna Vasquez hugs one of her older brothers, Robert Vasquez, as they embrace each other for the first time in 12 and a half years on Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Spotlights, Shipping companies reach $97M California oil spill agreement, Lompoc boys fall to Cypress Oxford Academy in first round of soccer regional, Dear Abby: Wife has no appreciation for man's preferred dress, Intel agencies: No sign adversaries behind 'Havana syndrome', Questions remain over who allowed Javier Limon to be killed as former Northwest gang member wraps up testimony. 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