Trial of man accused of killing his two children begins

By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News
tellis@dallasnews.com

A death penalty trial is scheduled to begin today in Dallas for a 29-year-old man accused of killing his two young children after their mother, his longtime girlfriend, told authorities that he had abused her and threatened them.

Hector Rolando Medina and his girlfriend, Elia Martinez-Bermudez, had been together for five years when she decided to leave him last year. She told police that he had repeatedly abused her physically and raped her.

Ms. Martinez-Bermudez, now 24, sought a protective order on March 2, 2007. Two days later, she returned to her Irving home to find police inside with her mortally wounded children.

Police say Mr. Medina shot the two – Javier, 3, and Diana, 8 months – before shooting himself in the neck.

The next day, a district judge granted a protective order to Ms. Martinez-Bermudez. She could not be reached for comment last week, but she is expected to testify during Mr. Medina's trial.

Mr. Medina, who is a citizen of El Salvador, was hospitalized for about a week and then taken to the Dallas County Jail. He has remained there on a federal immigration hold. The bullet remains in his neck, according to court records.

Donna Winfield, Mr. Medina's attorney, tried during pretrial discussions to persuade prosecutors to give her client life in prison with no opportunity for parole, the only other punishment available in capital murder cases.

"These types of cases are never about responsibility, or who did it," Ms. Winfield said last week. "What was going on mentally with the person? That's more the crux of the case."

Irving police Sgt. Jef Swann said it's common for violence in an adult relationship to extend to children in the household.

"The husband or wife, if they can't take it out on that person, they'll take it out on the children," said Sgt. Swann, who oversees the Irving police family violence unit. "The kids are regularly caught in the middle."

In an affidavit for the protective order, Ms. Martinez-Bermudez said that "Hector has grabbed me, thrown me, pulled my hair and pinned me down and forced me to have sex with him numerous times."

The week before the shooting, the affidavit said, Mr. Medina assaulted her at the Irving house they shared with another family because she refused to have sex with him.

She said Mr. Medina told her that police would write her a ticket if she called them for no reason.

"Hector stated since I did not have any bruising they would not believe me," Ms. Martinez-Bermudez said. "I believed Hector, so I didn't call for help."

Illegal immigrants filling county jails

Illegal immigrants filling county jails
By Sean Thomas
sean.thomas@amarillo.com

Illegal immigrants are taking roost in three Panhandle jails and causing crowding issues.

Ochiltree County is making plans to deal with extra inmates in part because of illegal immigrants who have committed state crimes. Immigration and Custom Enforcement place holds on illegal immigrants, making it difficult for them to bond out of jail.

Ochiltree Sheriff Terry Bouchard said a proposed agreement between Ochiltree County Jail and the Dallam-Hartley County Jail will allow the county to ship inmates to the bi-county jail at $40 per day per inmate.

Moore and Carson County both ship inmates to other jails but would have their crowding issues relieved if illegal immigrants could bond out.

"We've managed to stay under (capacity) so far, but we want some kind of safety mechanism in case we run over," Bouchard said.

Ochiltree' 32-bed facility is 51 years old and typically runs an average of 26 inmates.

This week the county had nine inmates with ICE holds placed on them.

"When immigration places a hold on that person, the bondsmen don't want to bond them," Bouchard said. "If they do bond out, ICE will pick them up."

Ken Knowles, owner of Central Bail Bonds, which covers about 90 counties, said it ultimately depends on whether local jails will work with the bonding companies and the credibility of the inmate.

"I know some of these smaller jails due to the overcrowding and the overpopulation of immigrants, if these people have jobs and are somewhat stable, they will cut them loose on our bond," Knowles said. "We do post bonds on them if the credibility is there."

Ochiltree won't be stuck with illegal immigrants for inmates indefinitely. After they serve for the state crime, Bouchard said they are picked up by ICE.

Moore County Jail has six inmates at the Dallam-Hartley County Jail and still has 58 inmates in its 62-bed facility.

Corrections Officer Christie Rex said most of the 11 inmates with ICE holds have misdemeanor charges against them.

"If they were able to bond on those charges, my jail wouldn't nearly be as full. That would help us," Rex said.

Most of the jail officials did agree that ICE was punctual about picking up inmates once they had resolved their state issues.

Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry has two inmates staying with Armstrong County to help ease crowding at his 24-bed facility. Terry's nine inmates with ICE holds all face first-degree felonies.

"They are here and I can't get rid of them," Terry said. "If five of them were able to make a bond, that would help us out."

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