Bianca Maldonado, 17, was fatally stabbed and sexually assaulted in May of 2009. Her one-year-old baby was injured in the attack.
As the sentencing phase for convicted murderer Areli Escobar, 32, draws to a close, more information is being revealed about his victim.
For nearly two weeks Bianca's mother Jacqueline Hernandez has walked in and out of Judge Mike Lynch's courtroom. She has cried. On Tuesday, jurors learned of the pain in her heart.
To come across my daughter in that state with cuts on her face, with cuts all over, has been a trauma that I can't get out of my mind, Hernandez said.
She spoke about the impact the murder has had on her youngest daughter who was with her when she found Bianca's body.
She cries. Sometimes I come upon her crying. She says 'I'm crying for my sister,' Hernandez said.
Hernandez says Bianca's son, who turned three on May 11, even grieves for his mom.
He goes over to [Bianca's] photo and says 'Momma' and he kisses the photo, Hernandez said.
Jurors wept when listening to Hernandez's testimony. At one point they even passed around a box of tissue.
One of Bianca's high school teachers described her as joyful and intelligent. Bianca was enrolled in the highest level courses of English and history after only having lived in the United States two years prior to high school.
In eighth grade she began visiting colleges starting with Texas A&M. She wanted to be a scientist.
Her dreams ended when Escobar came into her apartment on that May morning in 2009.
Jurors also heard from a woman who said Escobar broke into her home and choked her two months prior to the murder. She reported the incident to police, but did not follow through with charges.
Escobar's ex-girlfriend Zoe Lopez, who heard the murder over the phone, was back on the stand. She testified that Escobar sexually assaulted her despite her telling him 'No.'
The prosecution also showed jurors photos of Escobar's tattoos including: a skull with flames, a pistol, roman numeral four (IV) for his affiliation with the gang The 4th Street Bros., a woman's head with eyes closed and crying, and a woman with a grim reaper-looking figure holding her in a graphic way.
The prosecution rested on Tuesday afternoon. The defense should wrap by the end of the day on Wednesday. Jurors should make a decision of life without parole or death late Wednesday or early Thursday.
