Acevedo sentence brings concern over domestic violence

Sixty-two year-old Martha Acevedo is about to begin a long prison sentence for killing her husband, a man she claims abused her for years.

ABC-7 was in the courtroom for the entire trial which only lasted a few days. On Thursday morning the jury came back with a 25-year sentence for her murder conviction.

Acevedo admitted to the court she used an apron to strangle Jose Acevedo. She said she did it after he punched her in the face and he passed out drunk.

ABC-7 spoke to both attorneys after the punishment was announced.

“This is a tragedy and this jury sent a message to battered women all over this town that whether you’re a victim or a defendant you’re going to get screwed in this system,” Acevedo’s defense attorney Louis Lopez said. “You’re not going to get your fair shake.”

“Our office, the District Attorney’s office, is highly committed to the prosecution of domestic violence,” said prosecutor James Montoya. “It’s one of the things that we prosecute very strongly. That is a priority in the office.”

ABC-7 took a much closer look at domestic violence as a whole, asking why some women, like Acevedo, take matters into their own hands.

“It’s a tale of, this is where things could possibly escalate to, if you don’t leave this relationship,” said El Paso Center Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence community relations director Cesar Campa. “Domestic violence will escalate to homicide.”

And that appears to be what happened last year with the Acevedo’s in San Elizario. Martha Acevedo admitting to strangling her husband with an apron after 40 years of alleged abuse.

“We had five witnesses, including his brother, during punishment, that admitted to seeing him hit or abuse her at some time,” Lopez said. “It could not have been any more evident to this jury that this guy was an abuser.”

“It’s important to realize and understand that every person who experiences domestic violence often times feel trapped,” Campa said.

“Everybody seems to believe you can get out of it, you just need to lock the door, you need to get in the car, you need to drive to your sister’s or your mother’s or in this case her children and she’s saved and the bad guy just goes away like in the movies,” Lopez added.

“Many of them experience so many barriers to getting out of that relationship they don’t feel they have any other option but to stay,” Campa added.

Acevedo’s attorney said his client did reach out for help, but dropped the charges.

“When they do the right thing and try to call police, they end up in this courthouse where a good percentage of family violence cases are dismissed because eventually the abusers get them to drop charges,” Lopez said.

“Unless you’ve been in that situation, unless you’ve had all the resources stripped from you, unless you’ve had your self esteem bombarded and no longer exists, that becomes really difficult,” Campa said.

If you find yourself in an abusive relationship and in need of help or resources, call the El Paso Center Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence crisis hotline at 915-593-7300.