Jury sentences man to life in prison for severely abusing his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A man convicted of severely abusing a five-year-old girl has been sentenced to life in prison.

According to KSAT-12, a jury deliberated for nearly an hour before Jose Ruiz was found guilty Monday on 7 counts of serious bodily injury to a child. The punishment phase of the trial got underway as soon as the jury handed down their verdict.

The abuse ultimately resulted in the death of Mercedes Losoya.

Ruiz was dating Katrina Mendoza, the girl’s mother, at the time. She testified that Ruiz would often abuse her daughter and that she had tried to make him stop several times during their relationship.

Mendoza told the court that Ruiz would cover the girl’s mouth and nose, stick thumbtacks in her feet and drag her around in her own urine when disciplining her daughter. They took the child to an emergency room in February of 2022 where she was pronounced dead.

Mendoza was previously a defendant in the case, but she accepted a plea deal for her testimony. She admitted to allowing Ruiz to abuse her daughter and will be sentenced at a later date.