A 44-year-old Brownsville woman who pleaded guilty to holding a woman she had been dating at knife point and choking her has been sentenced to eight years in state prison, state records reflect.
Court records show this assault occurred more than two years after she had been released from prison for also assaulting another woman, who she had been dating.
According to state records, Tienesha Marishka Mendoza, appeared Sept. 29 before 197th state District Court Judge Adolfo E. Cordova Jr., where she entered a guilty plea to one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of assault of a family/house member impeding breath, one count of unlawful restraint, and one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Although Mendoza was sentenced to eight years in prison, a motion hearing in her case has been scheduled for Oct. 11 to clarify plea counts and punishments.
The incident occurred July 23, 2020, at a Brownsville residence, according to the Brownsville Police Department.
Investigator Martin Sandoval, spokesman for Brownsville PD, said officers went to the 400 block of Avenida Del Sol in reference to an aggravated assault.
The victim told police she and Mendoza had been arguing throughout the day after Mendoza accused her of cheating on her.
Sandoval said Mendoza began slapping and punching the other woman as she tried to get out of the home.
“Mendoza managed to grab her by the hair and started to choke her. The woman started to lose consciousness and that is when she released her grip,” Sandoval said.
“Mendoza then grabs a knife and threatens to kill [the woman],” Sandoval said.
The victim was “brutally beaten with a drill to the head area and constant banging of her head to the floors and walls.”
The woman said Mendoza dragged her to the living room where she was sexually assaulted, Sandoval said. The woman managed to run out of the house and call police.
Court records show although Mendoza was also indicted of one count of aggravated sexual assault, that charge was dismissed.
Mendoza remains jailed at a Cameron County facility.
Court records also indicate that this wasn’t the first time Mendoza had assaulted a woman she had been dating. A similar incident occurred in 2017 in Hidalgo County.
In Hidalgo County, Mendoza was indicted on a charge of hitting that woman with an ash tray and a cane and pushing her with her hand. Mendoza pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to two years in prison.
