GUILTY TX - Texas Ruiz, 21 mos, beaten to death, Corpus Christi, 1 Jan 2011

Judge Denies Request to Postpone Juan Garza's Trial

10/12/2011 05:51 PM by Lindsay Curtis - LCURTIS@KRISTV.COM
CORPUS CHRISTI - The capital murder trial of Juan Garza is scheduled to get underway in less than a week.
Back on New Year's Day, 21-month old Texas Ruiz died from blunt force trauma to his head and stomach. Garza and the toddler's mother, Lorraine Rodriguez, were charged with capital murder. Last thursday Rodriguez accepted a plea deal to a lesser felony charge, are sealed by a gag order.

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Child's Grandparents Testify in Capital Murder Trial

10/20/2011 07:06 PM by Stephanie Kusy - skusy@kristv.com
CORPUS CHRISTI - Jurors in the capital murder trial of Juan Garza today learned more about the months leading up to the death of 21-month-old Texas Ruiz.
The boy's grandmother and grandfather also took the stand saying they blame Garza for the boy's death.
Linda Rodgriguez says she met Juan Garza, also known as JJ, at a fish fry on June 23, 2010.
The next day she gained custody of the baby after bruises were found on his body. She says Texas soon became extremely upset around Garza.

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Defendants' Brothers Say He Punched Baby Texas

10/24/2011 12:29 PM by Melissa Schroeder - mschroeder@kristv.com
CORPUS CHRISTI -- The capital murder trial of Juan Garza, who's charged with killing his ex-girlfriend's 21-month old son, continued today.
The trial is centered around an innocent little boy named Texas Ruiz who died in the early morning hours of New Years Day 2011.
Prosecutors say Juan "JJ" Garza killed him with his own hands.
Monday, the jury heard testimony from witnesses who backed up that claim.
In a taped interview, Garza's nine year old brother said, "Texas asked him questions and JJ punched him in the chest. I told him to stop but he just kept doing it."
The boy said his brother punched Texas ten times that night.
He said his brother was playing golf on his Nintendo Wii and didn't want to lose his concentration.

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Mother Testifies Former Boyfriend Beat Her Son To Death

10/24/2011 06:01 PM by Melissa Schroeder - mschroeder@kristv.com
CORPUS CHRISTI -- We have continuing coverage on the capital murder trial of Juan Garza, who is accused of killing a little boy early this year.
Today, the mother of the boy who died took the stand.
21-month old Texas Ruiz died on January 1st of this year after police say he was beaten by Garza.
The child's mother - Lorraine Rodriguez - was also charged with capital murder, but recently took a plea deal on a lesser charge in exchange for her testimony against Garza.
So, after a week of testimony...it all came down to this.
Texas Ruiz's mother took the stand in front of a packed courtroom.
Account by painful account, Lorraine Rodriguez told a jury how her former boyfriend Juan Garza beat her little boy for months and threatened to hurt her if she told anyone.
She said, "He started spanking him and when he started crying he started popping him in the mouth. He busted his lip."

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Garza Claims Mother Beat Child to Death

10/26/2011 02:34 PM by Ben Lloyd - blloyd@kristv.com
CORPUS CHRISTI - Juan Garza took the stand in his own defense today in his capital murder trial. He told the jury that he was not at home the day prosecutors say 21-month-old Texas Ruiz was severely beaten and eventually died from his injuries.
Garza told the jury that he had gone out for a run on the night the boy died. He claims he later received a phone call from his girlfriend, Lorraine Rodriguez, and she told him what had happened to her son.
When asked by his attorney to explain what happened that night Garza faced the jury and said:
"She (Lorraine Rodriguez) explained to me what really happened that night with Texas after I left. She explained to me she was frustrated. She wanted to go out. She wanted to do things, but she couldn't because she was with Texas. And he was crying. After I left he wouldn't stop crying for me. That he wanted me to.. and she spanked him. She put him in time out, he wouldn't stop crying. She slapped him, she hit him. He wouldn't stop crying. She said he kept screaming. She said she grabbed his head and banged it on the ground until he stopped crying.. said he started having seizures and that's when she panicked. I didn't know what to believe. She just lost her son, I didn't know if that was true or not. I did not know what to do at that point."
Garza also told the court that his attorney at the time told him not to tell investigators about the conversation.

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Man Accused of Killing Toddler Takes the Stand

10/26/2011 04:45 PM by Steven Romo - sromo@kristv.com
CORPUS CHRISTI - Defendant Juan Garza took the stand Wednesday in his capital murder trial. He's accused of killing his girlfriend's son, 10-month-old Texas Ruiz, back in January.
"I did not kill Texas," Garza said. "Did you do anything to hurt this baby?" asked a defense attorney. "I never once hurt Texas," Garza said.
Garza denied any action that led to the death of little Texas Ruiz.
Instead he gave another story of an alleged confession from Rodriguez....

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Latest Update Jury Deliberations Begin In Garza Trial
11:35 AM
CORPUS CHRISTI - Jury deliberations are now underway in the capital murder trial of Juan Garza. He's accused of beating to death his now ex-girlfriend's 21-month-old son on New Year's Day.

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On Friday, the man found guilty of capital murder for the death of a 21-month old was sentenced to life in prison...

Tuesday's sentencing was just as emotional for 25-year-old Lorraine Rodriguez. After reaching a deal with prosecutors, she was sentence to 25 years for her guilty plea to murder.

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