The mother of slain two-year-old Juleanna Arevalo took the witness stand Thursday and said her ex-boyfriend, Stephen Cortez, Jr., physically abused her daughter on multiple occasions and lied to Austin police detectives when he told them the child died after falling down steps two years ago.
Sophia Arevalo testified that Cortez initially told her the child died from injuried after falling out of a playpen, but didn’t think police would believe him and decided to come up with a different story.
Speaking softly and giving short responses to questions from prosecutors and the defense, Arevalo portrayed Cortez as a child abuser who spanked Juleanna for not finishing her food, forced her to walk down steps with her eyes closed, tripped her, and shined a flashlight in her eyes so she couldn’t sleep.
She said she was afraid to step in or cooperate with Child Protective Services case workers who wanted to investigate complaints made by her mom because “I was afraid I would get hit myself.”
In exchange for Arevalo’s testimony, Travis County prosecutors agreed to not pursue criminal charges against her in connection to Juleanna’s death. Their focus is Cortez, 29, who they believe
fatally struck the child while Arevalo was working on Oct. 18.
Arevalo spoke with homicide detectives and went along with Cortez’s story, his arrest affidavit shows. She maintained the story until last month when she told Austin police detective Ray Tynes about the story Cortez had told her on the phone about the playpen.
She said she had finally come to her senses.
“I was in denial that he would kill my daughter,” she said.