It’s been nearly 10 years since 11-year-old Martha Guzman was allegedly killed by the man her mother was dating.
Police charged Miguel Ruiz Lobo back in 2014 with killing the girl. His trial began Monday in a Miami-Dade courtroom.
Police said Guzman was found in her mother’s apartment in Miami, with her neck slashed and her wrists cut so deep that her hands almost came off.
On Monday, Guzman’s sister Stefanie Rivera testified in front of the jury about how she found her sibling dead and quickly called 911. The State Attorney’s Office played that call in court, with Rivera heard frantically screaming for help.
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“They killed her, they killed her,” Rivera told the 911dispatcher. “They stabbed her."
Lobo is facing first-degree murder and the jury will decide if he will be free, spend time in prison, or be sentenced to death.
On the first day of the trial, police officers got very emotional as they described seeing Guzman’s body. Officer Victor Palacios told the jury he tried to perform CPR, but as he blew air, he could feel and hear it coming out of her neck.
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“The air I was putting in was coming out through her neck on the side,” Palacios said. “She had a hole. She had a laceration,” he added.
Palacios later even tried covering the hole with his hands. Guzman was pronounced dead at the hospital.
It’s unclear why Lobo allegedly killed the girl, but police believe he had a bad breakup with her mother. In court, Rivera mentioned how Lobo once told her he didn’t like Guzman.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
