“No
one should have to go through a random act of violence like this, and
my heart goes out to the victim,” Harris County District Attorney Ogg
said. “She was terrorized and traumatized
and still had the presence of mind to get away and seek justice.”
Martin Cruz, 42, was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a Harris County jury late Wednesday after a week-long trial. He was convicted of aggravated kidnapping for abducting a woman at gunpoint outside an apartment complex in southwest Houston, across the street from Cruz’s apartment.
Evidence
presented in court showed that Cruz and Ricardo Matilde-Silvas, 34,
approached the victim on March 16, 2017 and forced her into her vehicle
at gunpoint. Inside the car, she was
sexually assaulted and made her to wear a jacket over her head. They
took her to an ATM, made her take out $300, and then brought her back to
Cruz’s apartment where she was again sexually assaulted. After the
attack, she convinced the two men to release her,
and she immediately contacted Houston Police.
Matilde-Silvas
pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault for his part in the
incident in exchange for a 30-year prison sentence in April.
Assistant
District Attorney Kim Nwabeke who handled the case with prosecutor, ADA
Chris Handley, told jurors during the week-long trial that the victim
lived through her own horror story
and came away stronger.
“She
lived every young woman’s worst nightmare, being taken in the night by
the monster next door,” Nwabeke said. “Now, she’s turned the tragedy
into strength and is working to empower other
survivors to speak out.”
The
case was investigated by the Houston Police Department and prosecuted
by the Sex Crimes Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s
Office.
“We thank the jurors for their service and the prosecutors and police in this case for their work in seeing that justice was delivered for the victim and our entire community,” Ogg said. “We are grateful to them.”
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