State vs. Daniel Cruz
Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child
Lead: Philip Teissier
2nd Chair: Klarissa Diaz
DA Investigators: Laura Brakefield & Tomicka McCloud
DA Victim Advocate: Yvonne Macias
Investigating Agency: Irving Police Department
The defendant was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14.
GUILTY and sentenced to 65 years in prison.
State vs. Gerardo Benitez Canales
Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child under the age of 6
Lead: Joel Abraham
2nd Chair: Taylor Willis
DA Investigator: Edwin Gibson, Raphael Vela, Ryan Rodriguez, Walt Clifton, Joe Mundy
DA Victim Advocate: Flor de la Fuente
Investigating Agency: Irving Police Department
The defendant was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 6. It took the jury 13 minutes to return a verdict.
GUILTY and sentenced to 60 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
State vs. Ruben Lara Alvarado
Intoxication Manslaughter
Lead: Keena Miller
2nd Chair: Priscilla Pelli
DA Investigator: Claudia Mena-Marroquin, Victor Vasquez, Aleciah Taylor, Eureka Williams
DA Paralegal: Maria Cantrell
Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department
On or about, December 20, 2020, the defendant was driving while intoxicated and violently crashed his vehicle into the vehicle driven by the victim. The defendant failed to render aid and subsequently, the victim passed away from the injuries he sustained during the violent crash. The defendant was charged with Intoxication Manslaughter and Accident Involving Death.
GUILTY and sentenced to 13 years in prison for Intoxication Manslaughter and 10 years’ probation for an Accident Involving Death.
State vs. Pedro Garciacleto
Intoxication Manslaughter
Lead: Drew Taylor
2nd Chair: Christopher Powell
DA Investigator: John Davison
DA Paralegal: Patzy Butler
Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department
The 16-year-old victim was driving home from work around 11 pm when the defendant crossed over the median divider and caused a head-on collision. The victim was taken by ambulance with crush force injuries and later died. The defendant broke both of his legs in the crash. A blood draw showed that the defendant’s blood alcohol concentration was .20.
The 21-year-old defendant entered a plea of guilty before the jury and asked that they give him probation since he had no prior criminal history. There was emotional testimony from the victim’s mother who detailed learning about the crash and saying goodbye to her son. Thirteen members of the defendant’s family testified that the defendant had never been a heavy drinker and was a good kid who made a terrible decision. On cross-examination, all of the family members testified that if the defendant was ever stranded or stuck somewhere they would have come and picked him up.
The Jury declined to give the defendant probation and opted to sentence him to 5 years in prison.
GUILTY plea and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
State vs. Devin Thomas
Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon
Lead: London Daniels
2nd Chair: Alex Dobiyanski
DA Investigator: Victor Vasquez & Michael Csaeszar
Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department
On March 17, 2023, the defendant and the victim were in a verbal altercation in front of a convenience store on Ann Arbor Avenue at approximately 5:00 am. The defendant pulled out a gun and began shooting at the victim, hitting them twice in the arms. The defendant fled and was tracked down in Las Vegas where he was arrested and brought to Dallas to face charges.
GUILTY and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
State vs. Stephen King
Aggravated Sexual Assault
Lead: Tristan DerMargosian
2nd Chair: Trey Stock
DA Investigator: Lee Thompson
DA Victim Advocate: Roquel Mayhorn
Investigating Agency: Lancaster Police Department
On July 21, 2022, the victim was panhandling when she approached the defendant’s car, and he forced her into his vehicle. The defendant drove the victim to a remote area located on Arrow Road, sexually assaulted her, and attempted to strike her with a hammer. After the sexual assault, the victim was able to run away and call 911. The police took the victim back to the offense location so she could collect her shoes. When the victim and officers arrived on the scene, they saw the defendant attempting to sexually assault another girl. The defendant had a history of taking vulnerable individuals to this location on Arrow Road and sexually assaulting them.
During the guilt/innocence phase, we were able to get into two of the defendant’s extraneous offenses that took place on Arrow Road even though we could not locate the victims of those offenses. We were able to get the extraneous offenses in through SANE exam records and DNA hits coming back to the defendant.
GUILTY of Sexual Assault and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
