Probations Officers Testify In Renteria Resentencing

EL PASO, Texas – The mother of a 5-year-old girl who was brutally murdered, testified Monday in the resentening trial for the man who killed her daughter. Sandra Flores broke down in tears as she talked about the last day she spent with her daughter, Alexandra.

Alexandra was abducted from a lower valley Wal-Mart in 2001. Her burned body was found the next day. In 2003, David Renteria was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to death. A judge ordered a resentencing hearing after defense attorney’s argued that Renteria was not given an opportunity to give a statement of remorse, which they say could have helped him avoid the death penalty.

Flores spoke through an interpreter Monday, but her emotion was universal. After a lawyer asked her to identify a piece of Alexandra’s clothing, Flores began sobbing. Near the end of her testimony, Flores described her family’s frantic search for Alexandra after they realized she was missing. She also told the jury she began to yell and cry the first time she saw the video of her daughter leaving the store with Renteria.

During the testimony, Renteria never raised his eyes and showed no apparent emotion, although several jurors had to wipe away tears. At one point prosecutors put up photos of Alexandra at age four and five next to Renteria, prompting more tears from Flores and other family members.

Before Flores took the stand, a handful of Renteria’s former probation officers testified. The probations officers each painted a picture of a man who sporadically attended his sex offender treatment program. A program he was sentenced to after he was convicted of indecency with a child in 1994.

At least one officer said he often blamed his problems attending treatment on financial issues. The defense pointed out that Renteria had difficulty going to the program after he and his family were kicked off the Tigua reservation. They said he had to relocate his family.

The prosecution then pointed out Renteria had lied in the past about always being supervised while he worked as a parking attendant near a Catholic School.

According to his probation officers, Renteria also lied about drinking and driving. One officer verified that he continued to drink and drive despite being on probation. One of those times was in February 1998 when he was detained at the downtown bridge coming back from Mexico. Another time was in December of 1999 when he was spotted by a probation officer after midnight at an east El Paso nightclub. Then, six months later he was arrested for his third DWI and sentenced to 90 days in jail.

After Flores’ testimony, the state rested its case. The defense is expected to begin calling witnesses Tuesday.