An Ector County grand jury has indicted three people on murder charges in the January death of a Down Syndrome woman.
According to their indictments, Justin Raines, 30, Elvira Luera, 28, and Christine Raines Villalta Claros, 48, “intentionally and knowingly caused the death of an individual, namely Brenda Raines, by preventing the complainant from receiving adequate food and/or water.”
The trio were also indicted on one count each of injury to a disabled person. The trio remain in the Ector County jail on $500,000 bonds and are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday by Judge Denn Whalen of the 70th Ector County District Court.
Odessa Police Department reports show officers responded to the 6500 block of Amber Drive on Jan. 29 about a deceased person. When officers arrived they found an “extremely underweight” Brenda Raines deceased, covered in severe bedsores and on a crib mattress that was on a floor covered in dog feces and urine, the report stated.
The reports indicate Christine Claros was Brenda’s sister; Justin Raines and Elvira Luera were also related to the victim and all four lived together at the Amber Drive address.
According to the report, the three told officers Raines was unable to walk, speak, feed herself, bath herself or use the bathroom.
Claros told investigators she was the sole caretaker of Raines, but if she left the home for a short time she’d have Luera take care of her. She also said she’d never leave Raines overnight.
However, investigators indicated in their report that video surveillance showed Claros left the home at 7:38 p.m. Jan. 28 and didn’t return until 3:07 p.m. Jan. 29. Luera and Justin Raines told investigators they did not check on Raines at all during that time frame. An autopsy revealed Raines starved to death and a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, according to the report.
When interviewed again, Justin Raines and Luera told investigators Claros would leave Raines in the bedroom with the door closed frequently and would not come back for up to three days at a time, the report stated. The couple said they would sometimes feed Raines, but sometimes she’d go two days at a time without being fed.
The couple also indicated they would not change Raines’s diaper or bathe her while Claros was gone, the report stated.
“They indicated the only bathing Brenda received was an occasional sponge bath from Christine,” the investigators wrote in their report. “It was also advised Brenda was unable to leave her bed and no one would ever remove her from it for any reason. Brenda spent approximately three months in the filthy room on the mattress with four dogs before she ultimately died.”
Justin Raines and Elvira Luera were booked into the Ector County jail on July 25 on suspicion of knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a disabled person, a first-degree felony. They were released two days later after posting $125,000 surety bonds.
Claros was arrested by the Houston Police Department the same day.
Online jail records show the trio were booked into the jail on the murder charge Wednesday.
