EDINBURG — A forensic pathologist testified Thursday afternoon that a 16-year-old Mercedes resident drowned in his own blood after suffering a 4-inch deep stab wound to his chest that punctured his breast bone.
(Monitor Photo)
“This is a deep wound to a vital organ, the lung/heart area,” Ray Fernandez, a forensic pathologist with Nueces County, told the jury.
The testimony came in the second day of evidence in the trial of 34-year-old Mercedes resident Fidencio Castillo Cosme, who is charged with murder along with his brother 37-year-old Juan Jose Cosme, who are accused of attacking Armando Torres IV from behind on Sept. 28, 2020 after suspecting him of casing their residence the night before for a theft, according to witness testimony and a video-taped statement Fidencio gave police.
Both men have pleaded not guilty and Juan is awaiting trial.
That deep wound the men are accused of inflicting is what caused severe internal bleeding that stopped Torres’ heart, Fernandez testified, telling jurors that this kind of wound causes a person to collapse in about a minute and results in a rapid death.
Fernandez conducted Torres’ autopsy and on Thursday the defense and the prosecution sorted through more than 70 images from that procedure to determine which ones to show the jury.
Those photos included images of Torres and his wounds, including some on his forearms that Fernandez says are likely defensive, bloody shoes and blood-soaked clothing.
Thursday’s proceeding also revealed that Torres’ best friend, a 16-year-old The Monitor is not identifying because he is a minor, failed to show up to court to testify. He will likely be tracked down and brought to court.
In opening arguments Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Jay Garza told jurors that Torres was walking to his best friend’s house to hang out and smoke marijuana when the brothers attacked him from behind, with Juan placing Torres in a headlock before Fidencio began slashing at his forearms before stabbing him in the chest.
An eye witness’ testimony on Thursday, however, indicated he thought that Fidencio placed Torres in a headlock and that Juan had an object in his hand.
This is Victor De La Torre, who happened to be at his brother’s house, which is in close proximity to where police say Torres was stabbed, to feed his dog. He was in the yard that day trying to push his flood-damaged vehicle into the driveway when he saw Torres walking down the street.
“It looked like he was minding his own business,” he said of Torres.
Saying he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Torre recalled what he said was a surprise attack but he didn’t call police.
He said that’s because he saw Torres run away and the brothers run into their house before coming out and leaving in a vehicle.
“I thought he had gotten away, for the most part,” Torre said.
Another eyewitness who took the stand, Refugio Garces, told jurors that he was on his way to a doctor’s appointment in Harlingen when he saw Torres walking on the road. He said he drove around Torres and that when he looked in his rearview mirror, he was on the ground with two other men.
Garces said he did not see when the men attacked Torres because he was driving, but he did say he saw one of them with an object that he later found out was a long knife or short machete.
The trial is expected to continue into next week.
