The Justice Journal: Vol. 83 (English)

The Justice Journal: Vol. 83

A look at cases recently prosecuted by the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney's Office.

State vs. Steven Ridge

Capital Murder

Lead: Kristin Treager

2nd Chair: Katherine Lessing

Appellate: Anna Kubalak

DA Investigator: Jon Wakefield

DA Victim Advocate: Mackenzie Kile, Elise Welsh

Investigating Agencies: Dallas County Cold Case Unit

15-year-old Tamika Cromer went missing on February 25, 1996. Four days later, her body was found burning under an isolated bridge pillar near the Trinity River. Officers observed Tamika’s bra around her neck. An autopsy confirmed that she was strangled with a ligature and was badly beaten. Despite the extensive thermal burns that her body suffered, the autopsy also revealed that she was sexually assaulted shortly before her death. With few investigative leads, Tamika’s case went cold.

Years later, DNA linked defendant Steven Ridge to the crime with his spermatozoa in Tamika’s body. After investigating the defendant’s whereabouts back in 1996, the DA’s Office learned that he spent time in Tamika’s neighborhood prior to her death.

A jury, having heard the evidence of Tamika’s disappearance as well as the testimony of another woman who was previously sexually assaulted by the defendant, found him guilty of Capital Murder.

GUILTY and sentenced to LIFE in prison.

State vs. Wesley Roberson

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 14

Lead: Amanda Boylan

2nd Chair: Juan Sandoval

DA Investigator: Joe Mundy

DA Victim Advocate: Nathaly Mendez

Investigating Agency: Garland Police Department

The defendant continuously sexually abused a child under the age of 14.

GUILTY and sentenced to 66 years in prison.

State vs. Juan Martinez

Murder

Lead: Hallie Warnock

2nd Chair: Erik Lisowski

DA Investigator: Abby Cruz

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

On January 18, 2023, in Oak Cliff near I-35, the defendant drove over the victim with his GMC truck. During the trial, evidence of a second murder the defendant also committed two days later on January 20, 2023, was introduced. In the second murder, the defendant used the same modus operandi of driving over the victim, this time a pedestrian cyclist. In both instances, the defendant did not stop to render aid.

The defendant testified in trial that he was on drugs and did not remember either incident.

GUILTY and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

State vs. Harmon Lee Manuel, II

Stalking with a Previous Conviction

Lead: Elizabeth Pryor

2nd Chair: Renson Abraham

DA Investigator: Jeremy Sheppard

DA Paralegal: Shannon Vanloggerenberg

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

One day after being paroled in September 2019 for two prior stalking convictions, the defendant began stalking the victim. He was a stranger to the victim, and she later learned from him that she had served him a drink once as a waitress in 2007. Over the course of six years, he engaged in persistent harassment, including daily calls, voicemails, texts, and emails, with more than 1,000 calls in a single month. Despite her repeated attempts to seek help, he continued appearing at her work events, purchasing plane tickets, and making dinner reservations in her name.

Although the defendant never made an explicit threat of physical harm or violence, after two days of testimony, the jury returned a guilty verdict in less than 10 minutes. During punishment, the jury heard that the defendant committed the offense while on parole when he was prohibited from using a computer or the internet, and that he continued contacting the victim from Lew Sterrett Jail, including the night after she finished her direct testimony during the trial.

The jury found the enhancement paragraph true and sentenced the defendant to 42 years in prison.

GUILTY and sentenced to 42 years in prison.

State vs. Jonah McFall

Murder

Prosecutor: Matthew McCurdy

DA Investigator: John Valdez, Martin Bosse, Emily Carrasquillo

DA Victim Advocate: Sandra Walker

DA Paralegal: Patzy Butler

Investigating Agency: Mesquite Police Department

The defendant and victim were friends. Around February 10, 2023, the defendant and the victim were at the victim’s apartment when the victim went to sleep. The defendant claimed that the victim made a veiled threat towards his grandmother, so he grabbed a gun, walked over to the victim while he was sleeping and shot him in the back of his head.

Apartment employees found the victim when they went into his apartment to serve an eviction notice and smelled a strong odor coming from inside. The door was unlocked and when they opened it, they saw the victim’s body on his mattress.

Mesquite Police were able to find the defendant by tracing the car he drove back to his grandmother, and they tracked his movements before the murder and after using FLOCK, Mesquite Police pole trailer cameras, Mesquite traffic cameras and CCTV from a Taco Casa and a Murphy Express. When he was arrested, he told the detective that he got a teardrop, a snake and a revolver tattooed in the days after the murder. He told the detective he got the snake and gun tattoos because he “got the snake before it could get him”. Unbeknownst to the tattoo artist, the defendant traded the murder weapon to the tattoo artist to pay for those tattoos. The defendant also had an obstruction/retaliation case pending at the time where he threatened to kill a Garland police officer and his family. When he was being booked into jail on that charge, he got into a fight with the jail staff.

GUILTY plea and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

State vs. Rolando Orellana Vasquez

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 14

Lead: Megan Bisacca

2nd Chair: Haley Pratt

Appellate: Joshua Vanderslice

DA Investigator: Joshua Brooks

DA Victim Advocate: Gabby Vallejo

Investigating Agency: Garland Police Department

The defendant was found guilty of continuously sexually abusing a child under the age of 14.

GUILTY and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

State vs. Louis Edward Riley

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 14

Lead: Paige Lynne

2nd Chair: Summer Elmazi

Appellate: Jaclyn O’Connor

DA Investigator: Lorraine Resendez

DA Victim Advocate: Audri Graham

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

The defendant was found guilty of continuously sexually abusing a child under the age of 14. He waived his right to appeal

GUILTY and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

State vs. Heather Schwab

Fraud Securing Doc Exec >=$30K<$150K

Lead: Amber Moore

2nd Chair: Phillip Clark

DA Investigator: Alex Lipsey with support from Alex Pinalez and Abigail Cruz

Investigating Agency: Rowlett Police Department

Special Thanks: Interns Margarita Urtubey and Kameron Schultz

The defendant Heather Schwab, also known as Heather Ruybal, was convicted of fraud after using her father’s identity to rent a home in Rowlett in 2023, signing his name to the lease and never paying rent.

Evidence was presented at trial that showed why the defendant used her father’s name on the lease: she had been evicted nearly three dozen times between Texas and Colorado over a 25-year period. The defendant’s familiarity with the eviction process allowed her to game the system over the years and remain in several homes without paying rent for months while the landlords worked to remove her. The Rowlett landlord ultimately lost her home to foreclosure after the unpaid rent prevented her from keeping up with the mortgage.

The defendant was ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution and was sentenced to 20 years in prison (the maximum) after a prior felony conviction from 2018 in Colorado was found true. The prior felony from Colorado involved the defendant committing the same fraud and signing another family member’s name to a lease and never paying rent.

GUILTY and sentenced to 20 years in prison + $40,000 Restitution with enhancement paragraph found true.

State vs. Jimmy Lynn Daniels

Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon

Lead: Izaak Day

2nd Chair: Sarah Beth DeLay

DA Investigator: Bonita Morgan, Tom Naulty, Eddie Lopez

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

Dallas Police officers responded to a 911 call about suspected narcotics activity in an empty lot in a residential area. Officers arriving on the scene detected the odor of marijuana and saw marijuana smoke visibly coming out of the vehicles. He began an investigation with the defendant who immediately ran. The responding officers pursued and witnessed the defendant throw down a firearm and fall to the ground soon after. Officers placed the defendant in custody and retrieved the .357 revolver that the defendant had thrown to the ground.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and punishment was agreed at 15 years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections.

GUILTY and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

State vs. Lynlee Pollis

Intoxication Manslaughter

Intoxication Assault

Lead: Lauren Black

2nd Chair: Andrew James

DA Investigator: Ron Cathcart

DA Paralegal: Maria Cantrell

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

Special Thanks: Valerie Obregon and our Victim Witness team for coordinating travel for numerous witnesses.

On September 24, 2023, the defendant was driving on the U.S. Highway 75 access road near Monticello Avenue when she ran a red light while traveling approximately 64 to 67 mph in a 35-mph zone. Her vehicle struck the car driven by victim Honor Wallace, killing her and seriously injuring the passenger, Cece Solberg.

After three weeks of testimony, a Dallas County jury found the defendant guilty of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault, with deadly weapon findings. The jury sentenced the defendant to seven years in prison for intoxication manslaughter and four years in prison probated for ten years for intoxication assault, with the sentences to run consecutively. Due to the deadly weapon findings, the defendant must serve at least half of her prison sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Her probation sentence will not begin until her prison sentence has ended.

Wallace was a sophomore at SMU. Her death devastated her family, friends and the SMU community. As a condition of probation, Judge Jennifer Balido ordered the defendant to serve jail time on her own birthday, Wallace’s birthday, Solberg’s birthday, the anniversary of the crash and Christmas.

GUILTY and sentenced to 7 years in prison for Intoxication Manslaughter and 4 years in prison probated for 10 years for Intoxication Assault + Deadly Weapon findings.