Man Says He 'Didn't Mean To' Stab Girlfriend 55 Times After Choking Her Teen Daughter to Death: DA

Rene Mendez was sentenced late Friday on two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Sylvia Ramos, 37, and Brianna Ramos, 19, on March 5, 2023, according to a press release from the Webb County District Attorney's Office received by KGNS.

"Come here!" "Hurry! "Run!" and "My sister was killed!" a man shouted to a passing Laredo police officer the following day, according to Law&Crime. The man was one of Sylvia's brothers, who had found his sister's and niece's bodies alongside another brother.

Police inadvertently found their suspect later that same day when they got a call to a nearby Motel 6 for a possible drug overdose. Mendez had allegedly ingested 130 pills, alcohol, and cocaine purchased with money taken with Sylvia's bank card, which police say he stole after killing her and her daughter.

After pleading not guilty on Monday to kick off his trial, the prosecution laid out the state's case against Mendez, saying that drugs destroyed three lives in this case -- those of the two slain woman, and the life of Mendez himself, according to a courtroom report from the Laredo Morning Times.

Assistant District Attorney Kassandra de Hoyos broke down the events of March 5, when Vigil argued "Mendez made a choice to murder not one person, but two." Addiction, she argued, does not justify these choices. She noted a recorded confession from the hospital where Mendez admitted to the killings, even as it was his drive for drugs that pushed him.

She talked about the impact on the entire family, including Sylvia's brothers Gabriel and Arturo Ramos, who discovered the bodies just before noon on August 6, flagging down police for aid.

According to de Hoyos, Mendez started that day by sneaking into Brianna's room, knowing that she worked late, and thus slept in late. His intention was to steal money and things he could sell to feed his addiction. But Brianna woke up, triggering an argument and ultimately a violent response.

De Hoyos noted that it takes 90 seconds to choke someone to death, and that's not something one can do without intent. "It wasn't an accident," she argued, countering his defense's assertion that he didn't mean to kill her. "It was intentional."

She also mentioned an alleged confession, played in court, that was captured on police bodycam when they visited Mendez in court. "Yo sé que no me tenía que pelear con una chamaquita así," he said in the confession, which translates, via Google, to, "I know I shouldn't have fought with a little girl like that."

After allegedly taking care of one "obstacle" by killing the 19-year-old girl, de Hoyos said that Mendez grabbed a knife and set out to pick up Sylvia from work to take care of this second one, only he ran out of gas. A friend who had testified during trial brought him gas and said that he was acting normal through that encounter, even as one dead body already lay in his wake.

Just after 6:30 p.m., the couple arrived back at the apartment and surveillance footage showed Sylvia going inside first. Once inside, she would be stabbed a total of 55 times, with 25 of those puncture wounds in her neck, per the coroner's report.

Again, the prosecution cited the recorded hospital confession, where Mendez is seen describing the knife used and saying that he intentionally let Sylvia enter the apartment first so he could ambush her.

"Nine hours had passed since he murdered Brianna, and he could have stopped there, but he didn't," de Hoyos told the jury. "We see Sylvia entering her apartment and then stabbing her 55 times. He got rid of obstacle No. 2."

"He said he didn't mean to do it, but he didn't stop," de Hoyos argued, "and three minutes later he left the apartment, leaving Sylvia on the floor in her own blood while her daughter lay dead in her bedroom."

Surveillance footage showed Mendez leaving the apartment he had shared with both women alone, the prosecution noted, while there was DNA evidence found on Brianna's neck and on Sylvia Ramos' clothing, per LMT.

And now with two women dead at his hands, according to the prosecution, de Hoyos went to an ATM with his girlfriend's debit card and took out $500, spending $100 of it on cocaine before spending more on "my Budweiser and my Marlboro red," as he explained in court.

At 9:30 p.m., de Hoyos said that Mendez checked into his motel with the intention of ending his life. After trying and failing to do so with a shoelace, she alleged that he took 130 pills, cocaine and alcohol. "Then he thought he was over. He didn't expect to wake up, he didn't expect someone to rescue him and be sitting in front of this jury," she said.

She concluded by telling the jury that Mendez was right when he said, "In this life, you don't go away without paying anything."