The woman who lived in the Santa Maria home where Anthony Ibarra was killed in 2013 told a jury Tuesday about hearing the brutal assault of her friend, crying as she testified about the events that led to gang-related torture and murder charges against the six men now on trial.
Marissa Escobar took the witness stand following brief testimony by Santa Maria police Detective Andy Magallon in the Santa Barbara County Superior Court trial before Judge Rick Brown.
Their testimony followed opening statements by attorneys Monday in the case centered around the death of Ibarra, 28, in a residence in the 1100 block of West Donovan Road in north Santa Maria.
Escobar, now 24, told the jury she had known Ibarra since since she was a little girl, and as an adult bought drugs from him and then was being groomed by him to sell methamphetamine.
But Ibarra owed money for his drugs, and had been hiding out for several months from those who sought to be paid.
On March 17, 2013, Escobar said, the defendants’ arrived at her rented residence in different groups.
They included alleged ringleader Ramon Maldonado, also known by the moniker Crazy Ray; his dad, David Maldonado, or Pops; Crazy Ray’s son and Pops’s grandson, Ramon Maldonado Jr., aka Lil Ray; Jason Castillo, dubbed Long-Haired Guy; Reyes Gonzales, or Pumpkin; Santos Sauceda, or Lil Tuffy; and Anthony Solis, or AJ.
All but Ramon Maldonado Jr. are the defendants now on trial. The now-16-year-old son of the alleged shot-caller will be tried separately and as an adult.
Four other defendants — Pedro Torres Jr., Carmen Cardenas, Verenisa Aviles and Robert Stan Sosa — accepted pleas in the case.
Responding to questions from Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen, Escobar told jurors about Ramon Maldonado arriving at her house wearing black cotton and blue latex gloves and ordering her to call Ibarra on the pretense of wanting to buy drugs.
Ibarra arrived a short time later as Escobar was told to stay in a bedroom, but she recalled hearing “thuds” of fists hitting Ibarra before the attack moved into the master bedroom.
“He was screaming in pain,” Escobar said, adding that she covered her ears with her hands to block the sounds. “Whatever they were doing was hurting him.”
She said she remembers hearing them tell Ibarra to take off his clothes as the attack and humiliation continued.
After the attack ended, Escobar recalled seeing Ramon Maldonado.
“He came out and he was excited,” she said. “He was pumped up — had a smile from ear to ear.”
The other defendants also were sweaty, with Escobar recalling seeing blood on more than one man after the attack.
Ramon Maldonado pledged to fund Escobar’s expenses for six months plus purchase replacement furniture and carpet.
Before leaving, he threatened Escobar’s brother, Angel, who also lived at the house and was in the home at the time of the attack, saying they would face “repercussions” if anything leaked out about the incident, Escobar testified.
Asked why she didn’t call police, Escobar said, “I was scared that they were going to kill me and my brother because he (Ramon Maldonado) had made it very clear that something was going to happen to us.”
Told not to return to the Donovan Road residence, she and several defendants slept at an apartment near Newlove Drive, and snuck out in the morning, hitching a ride to pick up her toddler son.
But she didn’t know where her brother was, or if he was still alive, until their mom called.
“I answered and she was hysterical,” Escobar said, adding that the man who rented the garage from her at the Donovan house had arrived, saw a body and called the mom, his friend.
“She goes, ‘There’s a dead guy in your house,’” Escobar said, crying as she recalled telling their mom it wasn’t her brother’s body.
Later, she went to her uncle’s house, reuniting with her brother.
“He started crying and he told me Anthony was dead,” Escobar testified.
After she left the Donovan house, two of the defendants — Reyes Gonzales and Jason Castillo — talked about getting a U-Haul and disposing of the body, Escobar said her brother told her.
Ibarra’s body was later found inside a rented U-Haul truck parked in Orcutt.
She remained fearful, and said she only notified police after news reports that Ramon Maldonado had been taken into custody.
“When I saw the pictures of the three people arrested I felt a little bit safer to come forward because I knew Crazy Ray was incarcerated,” she said.
Escobar has had her own troubles with the law, with arrests for forgery, robbery, theft, drug possession and drug use.
She originally was placed in the California Witness Protection program, but left, she said, because she was enticed by the need to use drugs. She violated the rules by returning to Santa Maria, where she committed more crimes.
She last used meth Nov. 24, 2013, and remains in treatment, she told Bramsen, before identifying all six defendants in the courtroom.
During cross examination, attorney Michael Scott, who represents Ramon Maldonado, asked if Escobar recalled bragging about being the “star witness” during a conversation with another inmate.
Escobar answered, “No.”
Unhappy at where the California Witness Protection Program placed her initially, Escobar admitted making up a story about seeing two Santa Maria gang members — identifying them by name — in hopes to getting relocated.
The program later determined Escobar had been coming to Santa Maria and using drugs.
“Did you believe you were at risk if you returned to Santa Maria?” Scott asked.
“I believed I was,” Escobar answered.
In Santa Maria, she was arrested for being under the influence of drugs and possessing stolen credit cards. But back in County Jail, Escobar pleaded to re-enter the witness-protection program.
Under questioning from Scott, Escobar admitted she never saw any of the defendants with a weapon in their hands.
He also questioned whether his client had really used the word “repercussion” when allegedly threatened Escobar and her brother.
“How do you spell it?” Scott asked the witness.
When Scott questioned Escobar’s revisions of the timeline — she first claimed the attack lasted 10 to 15 minutes in 2013 and now contends it was 20 to 25 minutes — Escobar said her current sobriety means she is better focused on recalling that day.
“I replay it in my head every day,” she said.
The trial will resume Thursday in Santa Maria Juvenile Court, a location picked due to the large number of participants in the case.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.