Limon Martinez was just 7 when she and her older sister said the women sexually assaulted them. One of the women told a court that the accusations came after she spurned Limons advances for marriage. Matjekas tone grew less friendly. Her brother got her a job at his auto shop, but she had to quit when they discovered it was near a school. Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. They would barbecue at the park on weekends and take trips to a nearby lake. HOUSTON A young woman who recently recanted a nearly 20-year-old accusation of sexual assault, which had sent her aunt and three other women to prison, was in a courtroom here Monday fighting child-abuse allegations leveled at her. Though Annas family was more accepting than the others, she still remembers gawking looks whenever she and Cassie would stroll together at carnivals. Cassie met her one night when she went to pick up a pizza. Dogs were barking and a few neighbors watched from a distance as she sat on the front steps and talked to a local TV anchor. The most painful memory of that day was being separated from my newborn son, she later wrote. But little happened for a year. Elizabeths roommate Kristie Mayhugh was at her mothers apartment in Rosenberg, outside Houston, when the police surrounded the building and ordered her out. Being a mother, if anything like that happened, she told me, of course I would try to do anything I could for my son.. I thought she should have gotten life, said Gentry, the foreman. I never was a mother to that child.. It is probable that [Javier] wrote it, said one, adding that there is not enough evidence to make a definite identification or elimination. Another explained, It is one thing to attempt to imitate someones signature once or twice, but an entirely different and exponentially more difficult thing to attempt to successfully imitate a large quantity of extended writing.. Ware and the other lawyers for the women have said that no matter how much the ongoing investigations may cast doubt on the legal and medical context for the convictions, much about the case will remain a mystery. There aren't many places she is allowed to go. (That account was backed up by Oscar, Rosemarys partner in Denver, as well as by Rosemary herself in recent interviews. Vasquez said she feels an obligation to them. Kristie remembers her friend accepting money and rides. But because only copies of the documents are available, the experts reports were inconclusive. Elizabeth Ramirez was four months pregnant when she heard a knock at the door. Stephanie Limon did not clarify the situation. Roughly a year later, in late October 2013, attorney Mike Ware filed writs for all four women. If it had been a man, I dont think there would have been much of a question.. In the midst of her legal troubles, Elizabeth gave birth to her son. The women had been drinking tequila and were topless, VL said. From the bathroom, she heard screams from her younger sister. She thought I was up to something, Otto told me. By late 2012, media attention on the womenwho were becoming known as the San Antonio Fourwas steadily growing. We were sitting in a wide, sunny visiting room at the Hobby Unit. The children in family aren't allowed to be at family gatherings with Anna present. A modern tale of colonial-style persecution follows four Latina lesbiansElizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquezwrongfully convicted of sexual assault in the mid-1990s. The letters refer to Elizabeth as My Little Angel and include bits of poetry. She was given permission to be there by her parole officer until they realized the property backed up to a school property line. In September, a new state law had taken effect, passed in the spring by the Texas Legislature. Alejandre replied, "I thought so, too. She wanted a relationship with me. Limon Martinez and her husband believe the accusations against them are in retaliation because she is now working to help exonerate her aunt and the other women. Booking mugshots of Elizabeth Ramirez (from left), Kristie Mayhugh, Anna Vasquez and Cassandra Rivera. The Innocence Project of Texas hopes to perform a systematic review of child sex assault cases around Texas, and Kellogg may find more of her work questioned. Every Sunday, she would write her son a letter and have her mother deliver it. She spoke to reporters at her childhood home, a small bungalow where the street dead-ends at a muddy creek. A year after Javier and Rosemary split for good, he took a bus to Denver, where Rosemary was living, and returned to Texas with his kids. He liked to party and her workaholic lifestyle drove them apart, but not before she became pregnant with his son. Kids' removal called payback for recanting, Woman fighting to clear name in 1994 sex assault is paroled, Parole OK'd for woman fighting for exoneration. You must understand I was threatened, and I was told that if I did tell the truth that I would end up in prison, taken away, and even get my ass beat. No, nothing like that happened, Limon Martinez replied. For 20 years, Elizabeth Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez have fought to prove their innocence. I could mail out 50 letters and not one of them would [get a response] back, said Elizabeth, who scoured medical and legal textbooks in the prison library and spent nearly all of her commissary money on stamps. I trusted Elizabeth, that she wasnt going to hurt my daughters, he said. You know why? It was the first day of testimony in a hearing involving Stephanie Limon Martinez, 25, and her husband, Joseph Martinez, 29, who both believe the accusations against them are in retaliation because Limon Martinez is now working to help exonerate her aunt and the other women. Waiting to solve 5. She also noted that while she did regularly use and sell drugs, she only sold the substances to support her children, and wasn't paying taxes to gangs, or to Morales. Javier Limon . Youre confusing yourself because I said that Kristie wanted a relationship with mea gay relationship with me. Alejandre is heard saying. They couldnt get me drunk or doing anything illegal. He and Rosemary had gone through a messy custody battle over the kids after she moved to Denver and began a relationship with a former friend of Javiers named Oscar Aguirre. Cassandra Rivera gave the white teddy bear at right to her mother, Margaret Rivera (left), 11 years ago. Javier told me he testified in court on the matter, but that the police filed the CPS report, not him. I did not want a relationship with her. The first days back were like returning from a long vacation. This type of evidence would later be deemed inaccurate. They needed something to justify why Rosemary left me. She also testified that she felt scared as she was high on methamphetamines, stressed and confused when told there was a murder investigation. Morales was serving time for attempted murder at a Lancaster prison around the time of Limon's death, and was using a cellphone to communicate with fellow gang members, along with his girlfriend, Josie Alejandre. Alejandre testified that she agreed to plead to the charges in September 2016 but still believed her case would be dismissed. Anna found a job at a tortilla factory and tried to raise awareness about the case. She was 22. After splitting with her first girlfriend, Elizabeth started dating a man named Hector. Shifts at Arbys. Outlets must also tag the Observer in all social media posts. Her father Javier called, and as VL assured him that everything at Aunt Lizs house was going just fine, her aunt held the gun to her head. The prosecutions expert witness was a doctor named Nancy Kellogg, who estimated that she had examined roughly 3,500 sexual assault victims, most of them children. Had someone died? Elizabeth and Kristie moved in together as friends. Elizabeth Ramirez is in the Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas, September 5, 2012. Were they lesbians? No olvides preguntar por sus ofertas, descuentos y especiales del momento. He stormed away. I think Im going to wait for him to come to me, she told me shortly before her release. The relationship could remain secret only so long, and when Elizabeths mother found out, their already strained connection suffered further. Our whole relationship was based on him controlling me, she said. Javier Limn (born 1973) is a record producer, singer and songwriter born and raised in Madrid, Spain.Limn has worked with several artists, mainly from Spain, since he incorporates elements of flamenco rhythm to his work. The allegations that arose in 1994 stunned Elizabeth Ramirez. In October, Child Protective Services was given emergency custody of the couple's three children, all younger than 3. Lopez, who normally handled child sexual abuse cases. The jury went home for the weekend, returning Monday for the closing arguments. Javier said that after the girls spent the week at Elizabeths in July 1994, he didnt notice anything different at first. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. A version of this story ran in the January 2014 issue. Alejandre countered that it was difficult to pick up calls while she was on the streets, couldn't pay her phone bill, and she reiterated that she only sold drugs to support her children. But as he scanned articles on the Internet, there was one case that didnt fit the pattern. Sept. 5, 2012. Elizabeth, who had recently turned 20, climbed into his unmarked police car. They also wouldnt face sex offender restrictions. You have permission to edit this article. It is a portrait of the mundane logistics of low-wage life. Ramirezs two nieces, then 7 and 9, accused all four women of attacking and raping them with objects when the girls visited Ramirezs apartment in the summer of 1994. Vasquez's mother, Maria Vasquez, and aunt, Valeria Pachecano, attended the meeting in her place. Originally the most reticent of the four, Anna became their spokeswoman. Javier did not testify, but told me unequivocally, There was no gun.), Sometimes truth is different, Ruiz told the jury. Gloria Herrera has taped a picture of her daughter Elizabeth Ramirez, as a young girl, to a rosary and placed it around a statue of Jesus displayed in a shrine, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. Alejandre testified she went to the sheriff's substation voluntarily and spoke with Sgt. A video of Anna Vasquez plays on a computer and is projected to an audience at a meeting of the San Antonio Crime Coalition on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Aunt Liz produced a gun. If a woman abuses a young child, it often means the perpetrator has a mental illness. Some things were familiar: Elizabeth savored a strawberry shake from McDonalds and watched a Spurs game on television; Cassie went to a cookout for her sons birthday. Grandma, I cant tell you because something happened, and they threatened me, the girl said, as Serafina later related to a jury. Maria Vasquez (right), mother of Anna Vasquez, shakes hands with Gloria Herrera (left), mother of Elizabeth Ramirez, as Anna Vasquez's aunt, Valeria Pachecano stands in between during a meeting of the San Antonio Crime Coalition on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Cassie remembers her lawyer telling the women that they would surely win and coaching them not to jump up and down when the jury announced an acquittal. Elizabeths lawyer, Freddy Ruiz, tried to get VL to say that she was mixed up, and that the gun had actually been wielded by her father Javier in Colorado. Mondo spent more than a year on the story, reporting much of it in her spare time. Cassie recalls that Elizabeth promised Javier she would marry him. Sometimes truth has to border these parameters of strangeness of different times, weapons, and thats what happens here in this case.. Shifts at AutoZone. Javier Limon was given as the reason his two daughters made accusations of sexual abuse against four women in 1994 that led to them being sent to prison. The court battle this week pitted Stephanie Limon Martinez and her husband, Joseph Martinez, against her father, Javier Limon, who in court Friday accused them of domestic violence and. Elizabeth had told Detective Matjeka about Javiers advances, but he hadnt thought much of it. She now says that didn't happen. His kids took a liking to Elizabeth, so hed let them stay at her apartment, even after he split with Rosemary. Im sad inside. His primary company is a group of huskies. But Elizabeth soon found problems there as well. There were liquids and powders and different things. There were syringes and vials of white powder. She was still leaking milk when the police took her to jail. Anna Vasquez, recently released on parole, speaks at a Work-In-Progress screening of "San Antonio Four" a documentary by Deborah S. Esquenazi, about Vasquez and three of her friends, who are still in prison, found guilty of sexual assault of two minors. Limon took his daughters to the Alamo Childrens Advocacy Centre where they underwent a . Nathan convinced a filmmaker she had mentored named Deborah S. Esquenazi to take a look at the case. Ramirez was tried separately and sentenced to 37 and a half years, more than double that of her three friends, who were tried together. He didnt want to let me go.. Rosemary, who had trouble fighting for custody since she lived outside of Texas, floated around, at one point moving to Mexico with a husband who had immigration issues. . Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. Cassie and Anna tried to meticulously recreate what had happened the week of the alleged crimes. Casie Gotro, Stephanie's lawyer, is at left. Limon's body was found by fieldworkers, and autopsy results showed that he suffered 10 gunshot wounds that struck his lung, heart and liver. Cassandra Rivera, seen here Sept. 5, 2012, is currently in the Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas. Their reinvestigation wasnt fruitful. But money was tight, and at various times Elizabeth held jobs at Taco Cabana, Arbys and H-E-B. "I'm a single mom raising kids, living on the streets," she testified, becoming emotional on the stand. Besides his work as producer has also dabbled as an interpreter and has released three studio albums, Limn, Son de Limn and Mujeres de Agua. [Javiers younger daughter] told me herself, They were kissing us., Lonnie Gentry, the jury foreman at Elizabeths 1997 trial, listened to Javiers older daughter describe what had happened to her. The case caught the attention of just almost every eyeball out there. In other ways, though, her life was starting to look up. The crowd cheered. Were all friends. Partners must notify. Though her attraction to women made her an outsider at home, it led her to new friendships. Elizabeth was completely lost in the huddle. Detective Lopez was studying for her sergeant's exam when the complaint was filed by Javier Limon, the girl's father. His parents sought asylum in Venezuela when he was five after dictator Augusto Pinochet rose to power. Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. A boot-wearing, quiet man with a wide smile and blond hair mopped down on his forehead, Ware had worked for years with the Conviction Integrity Unit at the Dallas County District Attorneys office, which investigated old cases for possible wrongful convictions, and helped exonerate dozens of men. On trips around the city for volleyball games, Anna would bring along a radio and theyd belt out Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks. His parents were Salvador Allende supporters and he recalled what happened in a Reddit Ask Me Anything. The prosecutor, Philip Kazen, told the jury that Elizabeth had held a 9-year-old girl up as a sacrificial lamb to her friends.. When Elizabeth had entered the courtroom, the girl who was accusing her of sexual abuse had waved at her and smiled. Cassie didnt understand, so Anna broke the news: They too were being accused of sexually assaulting Elizabeths nieces. It was August 2012, and Stephanie, then 25, was a mother herself. "I thought you weren't supposed to face charges, per the agreement?" Limon was the boyfriend of Ramirez's sister at the time. Cassandra, who goes by Cassie, was uncomfortable and could sense something was wrong. Some of the discrepancies came from Serafina Limon, Javiers mother, who initially reported the girls outcries. Javiers sister Cristina agreed: Shes going to flip on the recantation, to get back at her mom.. All four were indicted for sexually assaulting Elizabeths nieces, and all four maintained their innocence while scrambling to remember if anything out of the ordinary had happened the week the girls stayed at Elizabeths apartment. We have no ads to show you! But the pool of advocates for the women was growing. Did anyone pull out a butcher knife? the couple's lawyer, Casie Gotro, asked her. Anna Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. The new technology was fascinating, but so were social mores. Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. By the time of the trials, she told me, good pediatricians knew this stuff had been discredited.. Gloria Herrera keeps a picture of her daughter Elizabeth Ramirez in a Bible in her bedroom, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. Most of the time, as he learned from reading scientific journals, these women are teachers who fall in love with a student. His questions grew more personal. She would do the same thing if somebody was hurting her child., Elizabeth herself, several months earlier, had said nearly the same words. When the jury announced her guilt, Elizabeth remembers her mother standing up and screaming, No! Allowed five minutes to say goodbye to her family, Elizabeth was then escorted to a holding cell, where she fainted. So she decided to tell her lawyer about Javier. He would offer Elizabeth rides, he would give her small amounts of cash when she needed it, and he would leave long messages on her answering machine. Kristie Mayhugh, seen here Sept. 4, 2012, is incarcerated at the Anna Vasquez gives her father Jesse Vasquez a hug as he leaves after celebrating Thanksgiving with family members at her Anna's mother's house, her first after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. They worked together at a nursing home, where the residents would constantly tell Gloria what a caring and charming girl she had raised. In November, Anna was released on parole. Anna counseled her, You need to tell somebody, because thats not right. Another friend says Elizabeth kept telling me over and over that she was afraid something was going to happen with Javier. But still they were baffled. The sun started to set as family members and friends of the four women lined up outside the county jail, breathing in sharply each time the doors opened. I will make things right, and I am sorry for everything I put you through. Still hale in his mid-50s, with close-cropped hair, Otto lives without reliable electricity or running water. Strangers congratulated them. You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. After Cassandra went to prison, her mother got a white puppy and named it Teddy Bear. Once released on bail, Elizabeth relied on family members to take care of her son while she worked at Taco Cabana and tried to fend off the assault charges. Esquenazi became passionately involved, collecting footage for a documentary that she is still filming. It wasnt something easily picked up by the wires.. About a month after he sent Elizabeth a letter, Otto came home from work to find her response in the mail. Otto found an organization called the National Center for Reason and Justice, which was created in the wake of the 1980s-era satanic ritual abuse scandals to advocate for people wrongfully accused of harming children. 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