An Andrews Police Department officer testifying in the murder trial of Humberto Polanco told jurors he warned Veronica Carrillo she was in danger.
“I told her she needed to find a way out of the situation or she’d end up dead,” said Officer Anthony De la Cruz.
He and other officers of the APD had been to so many domestic violence and mental health calls at Polanco’s house, officers knew they shouldn’t respond to the home alone, De la Cruz testified.
Polanco, 37, is accused of purposely striking Carrillo, 38, with a Chevrolet Tahoe on Dec. 20, 2020, near 16th Street and Moss, killing her. He’s also facing two additional charges, failure to stop and render aid and tampering with evidence in the 161st Ector County District Court.
Prosecutors John Briggs and Kortney Williams called Carrillo’s sister, Rebecca Gutierrez, as their first witness.
Gutierrez told jurors Carrillo was one of eight children and she, herself, had four children and two grandchildren.
Her sister began dating Polanco about two years prior to her death, Gutierrez said. Their first month together was fine, but Polanco quickly turned into a jealous, violent and abusive man, she said.
“He was very jealous. She couldn’t speak to her siblings or anyone else in the family,” Gutierrez explained.
She was the exception because she lived roughly half a block from Polanco and his parents. Her sister often came over to escape the abuse, but Polanco also came over and would start fights, she said.
She also often overheard fights between her sister and Polanco, Gutierrez said.
Whenever her sister came to her home, she was forced to leave her cellphone behind by Polanco and his mother and then, Gutierrez said, her sister would have arguments with Polanco using her phone while it was on speaker.
Gutierrez testified she called the police multiple times in the months leading up to her sister’s death and hours before her death, she overheard Polanco tell her sister she was “going to get it.”
In November 2019, Gutierrez testified Polanco showed up at her house covered in blood saying her sister had thrown herself out of a vehicle. He claimed he didn’t know where she was and the family found her at Midland Memorial Hospital in an induced coma with head injuries, facial fractures, broken arms and other injuries.
After her sister spent months in the hospital, Gutierrez said she would ask her what had happened that night and her sister would start to cry, change the subject and say she didn’t remember.
Her sister sought help for anxiety and fearfulness after the incident, but did not take the medications prescribed to her, Gutierrez said.
Her sister continued to live with Polanco, even after he fired a gun at the both of them in February 2020, Gutierrez said.
It wasn’t until October 2020 when he went to jail for assaulting her that she moved out of the house, Gutierrez said. However, she did maintain contact with him, she said.
On Dec. 19, 2020, Gutierrez said her sister went to her oldest grandson’s birthday party and spent the night at their mother’s home in Odessa. She got a call from her mother around midnight Dec. 20 telling her of her sister’s murder, she said.
Under cross-examination from defense attorney Michael McLeaish, Gutierrez said police investigated the incident that landed her sister in the hospital and no arrests were made.
When asked if her sister jumped out of the vehicle on the night of her death, Gutierrez replied “No, sir.” She testified police told her she didn’t jump.
Gutierrez told McLeaish she personally took her sister to a mental health appointment once, but acknowledged she doesn’t know if she had other appointments or if she could have taken her prescribed medications and not told her.
Williams told jurors evidence will show Polanco came to Odessa the night Carrillo died, picked her up in a black Tahoe and a couple of hours later intentionally struck her and left her to die in the middle of the street.
Further evidence will prove Polanco went to a bar before being picked up by his mom and taking the Tahoe to a car wash, Williams said.
McLeaish and his co-counsel, Jason Leach, reserved their opening statement for a later time.
Judge Justin Low is presiding.
