Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Vasquez found guilty of capital murder

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Saturday, June 19, 1999

Vasquez found guilty of capital murder
Punishment deliberations start Monday
By Novelda Sommers
Caller-Times

A jury deliberated about five hours Friday before finding a 20-year-old Corpus Christi man guilty of capital murder in the beating death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter.
   Richard Vasquez slumped forward in his chair after 148th State District Judge Rose Vela read the verdict in a crowded courtroom that included relatives of victim Miranda Lopez, and Vasquez's family.
   Jurors will return at 9 a.m. Monday for the punishment phase of the trial. After hearing arguments from prosecution and defense lawyers, jurors will decide whether Vasquez is to serve life in prison or die by lethal injection.
   Brenda Lopez, Miranda's aunt, said she found no joy in the verdict, although she said she feels Vasquez deserved to be convicted of capital murder.
   "Of course, it's not going to bring Miranda back," she said.
   Miranda died March 5, 1998, from head injuries she suffered during a beating. Vasquez has testified that, when he hit her, he was upset that he had to baby-sit Miranda instead of being able to steal something so he could buy heroin.
   Doctors testified that Miranda had trauma to her genitals and had cocaine in her blood when paramedics took her to Driscoll Children's Hospital in a deep coma. Vasquez testified that he did not sexually assault her or give her cocaine.
   During closing arguments, Vasquez's lawyers asked jurors to convict Vasquez of murder or manslaughter instead of capital murder because he did not intend for Miranda to die.
   "They didn't prove and they can't prove that he intended to kill that little girl," said attorney John Gilmore.
   Vasquez never said during the trial that he was innocent of contributing to Miranda's death, attorney Joe Collina said. Vasquez called 911 and try to save her life after he hit her, Collina said.
   "You just don't do that for someone you want to die," he said.
   Assistant District Attorneys Gail Wicks and Donna Starling argued that Vasquez intentionally and knowingly killed Miranda.
   Wicks reminded jurors of Vasquez's testimony that he rushed from room to room trying to hide drugs as Miranda lay unconscious on a bed. Vasquez lied to a 911 operator, telling her that the child was choking, when she really had suffered a head injury, Wicks said.
   She reminded jurors of bruises in various stages of healing that doctors testified were all over Miranda's body.
   "If he hit her and she fell and hit her head against the cement, that would be a reckless killing," Wicks said. "Nobody in the Vasquez home cared about Miranda. They would have known about the bruises and done something."



Staff writer Novelda Sommers can be reached at 886-3774 or by e-mail at sommersn@caller.com

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