More than two years after a 15-year-old Harlingen girl was found dead after she was allegedly stabbed and sexually assaulted, the trial of the man accused of killing her is scheduled to begin in late November.
A pre-trial hearing was held Wednesday before 107th state District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr., where attorneys representing Jesus Saldana Ramirez, 22, of Rio Hondo, the man accused in the teen’s murder, filed several motions seeking information about Alexandra Castillo, the 15-year-old girl.
Ramirez is charged with one count of murder, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of tampering with physical evidence.
Castillo’s body was discovered May 17, 2020, on Bob Youker Road in Harlingen. She was found lying next to the road with multiple lacerations to her body, Harlingen police said.
Ramirez’s defense team is seeking all juvenile and Child Protective Services records on Castillo, school disciplinary records, all runaway reports, police reports, medical reports pertaining to her treatment at Tropical Texas Behavioral Health, South Texas Behavioral Health Center, and any hospital records.
Authorities said Castillo was killed the day she met Ramirez. However, where and when they met has not been disclosed.
“These people met on the day that she was killed for the first time,” said Peter Gilman, an assistant district attorney for Cameron County’s District Attorney’s Office.
Castillo has reportedly run away from home several times, and on the day she was killed, she was still considered a runaway, authorities said.
During Wednesday’s hearing, defense attorney Rigo Flores said some of the reports indicate that Castillo had tried to commit suicide at least once, if not more.
“We know the mother had contacted law enforcement. We don’t know who. We don’t know which law enforcement agencies. However, we believe this is discoverable and will be relevant in the case,” Flores told Euresti.
In the CPS reports, “the mother made references that she called law enforcement and at various times the child was attempting to kill herself,” Flores said.
Ramirez’s defense attorneys said the reason they are seeking Castillo’s school disciplinary records because they regard “her behavior and her misrepresentation of her age to others,” said attorney Edmund Cyganiewicz but did not elaborate further.
According to the attorneys, Castillo’s CPS records indicate she’s an alleged victim of sexual assault.
“This is a fishing expedition,” Gilman said in response to records Ramirez’s attorneys are seeking.
At a previous pre-trial hearing, Ramirez’ defense team was seeking access to Castillo’s Facebook accounts.
According to a three-count indictment filed against Ramirez on July 22, 2020, he is alleged to have caused Castillo’s death by “stabbing AC, a pseudonym, with a knife.”
The indictment also alleges Ramirez sexually assaulted the teenager.
In addition, the indictment alleges that Ramirez “knowing that an investigation was pending, to-wit: a murder investigation, intentionally or knowingly alter or destroy, clothing, to-wit: the defendant’s clothing, with intent to impair its availability as evidence in the investigation.”
The Harlingen Police Department in a 2020 press release said that after conducting interviews and collecting forensic evidence, its Major Crimes Division and the Texas Rangers were able to identify Ramirez as the suspect.
Ramirez had fled to Mexico, but he later surrendered himself to authorities at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville.
Ramirez remains jailed at a Cameron County facility on a $2.1 million bond. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 28.
