State reconsidering case against half-ton woman

EDINBURG — Prosecutors are re-evaluating the case against an 800-pound capital murder suspect in light of new evidence provided by her defense, Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra said.

While remaining tight-lipped about the nature of this new information or how it might affect the charges against 28-year-old Mayra Rosales, Guerra’s office said more time is needed to investigate before heading to trial.

During a court hearing Tuesday, defense attorney Sergio Valdez agreed to make his client available for a pretrial deposition, an unusual move that he said speaks to how strongly he believes this new evidence will exonerate his client.

“The defense has given information to us and we’re trying to corroborate it,” Guerra said. “But we’re not going to do anything until we talk to her on an adversarial setting.”

Rosales — who suffers from a rare thyroid condition that has pushed her weight to more than 800 pounds — stands accused in the 2008 slaying of her 2-year-old nephew, Eliseo Gonzalez Jr. Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies arrested her in March of that year, after concluding she struck the child multiple times while babysitting, inflicting the skull fractures and bruises that eventually killed him.

While Rosales initially told investigators she fell on Eliseo while trying to pick him up, her attorney has maintained that his client was physically incapable of causing Eliseo’s injuries, whether intentionally or accidentally.

He has urged the state to prosecute her sister Jamie, the child’s mother, for murder instead.

But Jamie Rosales, who faced charges of injury to a child in connection with the case, is believed to have fled the country earlier this year in an attempt to avoid prosecution.

“If anything, Mayra is guilty of evidence tampering or filing a false report with police,” Valdez said. “She lied to help her sister. Because of her health condition, she thought she was going to die.”

Prosecutors would not confirm Tuesday whether they are considering dropping charges against Mayra Rosales. But Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño has cited these rumors as a potential reason Jamie Rosales decided to run. Investigators continue to search for her and believe she may be living in the Mexican state of Veracruz with her husband and another infant child.

In the five years prior to Eliseo’s death, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigated the couple five times on suspicion of abuse or neglect. Since then, two more abuse allegations have been filed against Jamie Rosales, an agency spokesman said.

State District Judge Ricardo Rodriguez agreed Tuesday to place the case against Mayra Rosales on hold for another month, allowing prosecutors to pursue the new evidence.

Valdez, meanwhile, will continue with trial preparations, including figuring out a way to bring his client to court. Her extreme weight and accompanying health conditions will require special accommodations, including daily ambulance rides to the courthouse that will cost anywhere from $4,500 to $5,000 per round-trip, he said.

____

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 587-9377.