Fresno County mother testifies ex-boyfriend killed her son and pointed gun at her
When Leticia Rodriguez decided to move out of her ex-boyfriend’s apartment last month, she hoped it would be for the best.
But around 9 p.m. Dec. 9 things turned violent. Her 16-year-old son Angel Trejo was fatally shot and her ex-boyfriend Hilberto Valtierrra is accused of his murder and the attempted murder of Rodriguez’s 20-year-old son Esteban, prosecutor Tim Galstan said Friday in a Fresno courtroom.
Rodriguez was the first witness to testify in Valtierra’s preliminary hearing. The 37-year-old Valtierra is charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault with a firearm. He is being defended by Emily Takao.
Judge Jane Cardoza will decide if Valtierra will be held over for trial. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Rodriguez testified that she and Valtierra dated for about five months and were living together at the Garden Valley Apartments in San Joaquin on the west side of Fresno County. Also living in the apartment was Valtierra’s sister and two of Rodriguez’s children.
The night of the shooting, Rodriguez was moving her things out of the apartment when Valtierra showed up and began insulting her in front of her son Angel.
“He was talking to my son, telling him I was a whore, bitch, nasty things,” she testified.
Angel got angry, saying to Valtierra that he needed to talk with respect about his mother, she testified. Then the situation escalated.
Rodriguez said her older son Esteban confronted Valtierra about what he was saying and the two began fighting.
“Angel and I tried to split them apart, but they fell and then they got back up,” she said. “Then he (Valtierra) turns to his side and looks at Adriana (his niece) and tells her to ‘give me that.’”
What Valtierra was asking for was a black handgun.
“I yelled at him not to shoot,” Rodriguez testified. “But he did.”
She testified that one of the bullets struck Angel in the head as he collapsed to the ground. Esteban was also hit.
Rodriguez testified that her estranged boyfriend also pointed the gun at her, her daughter and her brother.
Valtierra fled the scene, but Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives learned that he might have fled to Salinas. Working with Salinas police, detectives found Valtierra riding in a car near a home where he was believed to be hiding out.
The hearing continues Tuesday.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
