ROUND ROCK, Texas — The Round Rock girls who were at the center of a nationwide search in 2018 are now facing their alleged kidnapper in court.
Terry Miles is accused of kidnapping the sisters, ages seven and 14, and taking them from their Round Rock home to Colorado in January 2018.
Miles, who lived in their home with them at the time of their disappearance, is believed to have murdered their mother, Tonya Bates, before taking them, prosecutors said during opening statements on Tuesday.
One of the sisters, who took the stand Wednesday, said that she and Miles had regular sex.
She said she first met Miles while visiting her dad in Louisiana during the summer of 2017. She said the conversation was normal at first and then shifted.
"He had told me he had blue balls," she said, adding Miles told her "that he hadn't had sex for a long time after his wife died."
She testified that he asked her to pull up porn on her phone, and then she said he asked her to have sex with him.
She said when Miles first came to Round Rock, she stayed at a hotel with him.
She recalled moving around a few times with her younger sister, her mom and Miles before they moved into a duplex in Round Rock.
She said Miles lived in the garage and he picked out the room closest to the garage for her.
She also testified that, along with sexual abuse, Miles started physically abusing her. She said she was scared of him and recalled a time that "was one of the worst" where he had hit and kicked her so hard she had bruises all down her back.
She recalled a time when she left the house without Miles, when she said she went to the doctor with her mother to get medicine.
She said Miles "had gotten a tampon and put nail polish on the tip of it and wrapped it with tape." She said he did this to make sure no one could have sex with her while she's gone. She then described how Miles duct-taped her underwear to her body.
"He saw the duct tape was just a little bit loose on the back because the way I was sitting," she testified. "He thought it had been taken off, so then he hit me." She said Miles hit her on her face.
She testified that her mother didn't know Miles was having sex with her. She said she didn't tell her mother about what was happening because Miles would hurt her or her family.
She recalled the night she said her mom was killed. She said her mom returned home from work around 7:45 p.m. and initially went straight to her room.
"Next, my mom came out of her room and I don't know exactly how the conversation started or what we were talking about, and Terry had came out of the garage and they started arguing about something," she said.
She said she heard Miles tell her mother that she wanted to marry him.
"They came out of the room, and I moved out of the way. They were still yelling, and I was about to start heading to see how my sister is doing and I saw him throw down a punch at my mom," she testified, saying she told her sister earlier to go to a "safe space".
She said she checked on her sister, "and then Terry knocks on the door."
"I come out, and I see Terry and there's blood on his face, and he said he did something bad, something very bad," she testified.
She said she saw her mother's body and checked her pulse, saying her mom's body was twitching.
She testified that Miles told her he was sorry, and that she was told not to call 9-1-1. She said she didn't call 9-1-1 because she was worried "that the same would happen to [her and her sister]."
On Tuesday, witnesses testified about finding flashlights and bleach in the bathroom. The teenager testified on Wednesday that the flashlights and bleach both didn't belong there.
The girl then testified that she packed the "essentials" before she, her sister and Miles took off.
"I went with him because I was scared of what he could've done if I refused to go," she told the jury.
She recalled riding in the passenger seat of the car with her sister on the floor by her feet.
She said they stopped at Walmart where Miles bought "the stuff he needs" before she said they drove to the back and he ditched two of the phones and the car's antenna and radio.
"We were on the road for a while. Terry had said he was going to text his mom that something bad had happened to Tonya," she said, saying Miles said he was going to say it was someone Bates was involved with "so he wouldn't be suspected."
She recalled him getting rid of identifying items on the car and destroying another cell phone.
At the campground, she said Miles told her to tell people "that somebody came over that night, and we were told to leave and that when we came back it had happened and that we never did anything together."
She said he also told her not to say "that he hit me".
She said she initially lied to police because she was afraid that Miles could get out and hurt her if she said anything.
"[Miles] had taken the clothes he was currently wearing and burned them...because there was blood on them," she testified.
She said he kept his shoes because it was his only pair. She said there was blood on his shoes.
Police found Miles and the girls on January 3, 2018.
"Terry suspected it could've been a cop, so we were on the road for a bit."
She said she remembered when Miles said "it was done."
She discussed the time spent at the hospital and in interviews afterward. The defense asked her about a few of the different interviews while she was on the stand, and she said she didn't remember a lot of what she talked about.
She discussed her step-dad and his "rage," a term used by the defense.
"The rage was more towards what he tried to do to Terry," she clarified.
She said her step-dad pointed a gun at Miles. She also recalled a time her step-dad showed her pictures of her mom in "sexual activity."
She also talked about her time in a foster home and going through counseling.
The next witness was Doctor Lauren Edelman, a deputy medical examiner. She performed the autopsy on Tonya Bates. She testified the cause of death was blunt force trauma and the manner of death was homicide.
Click here for a breakdown of what happened during the first two days of Miles' trial.
KVUE reporter Molly Oak is reporting live from the courtroom. Follow her on Twitter for updates.
