Elizabeth Escalona’s sentencing hearing was held on Monday and a doctor testified at the hearing that the woman super-glued her daughter’s hands to a wall and beat her so violently that the girl suffered bleeding on the brain. Escalona could be sentenced to life in prison for her crimes against her two-year-old. She pled guilty back in July for attacking Jocelyn Cedillo in September because of problems with potty training.
Cedillo had to spend a week in the hospital for a fractured rib, bleeding on the brain and severe bruises. The doctor who testified was that of Doctor Amy Barton. Barton used to work at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas as a child abuse specialist.
“When I think about the time involved in that and what that scene must have looked like, it’s overwhelming,” Barton said.
Escalona was interviewed by Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Abel Lopez following the incident. Lopez displayed the bottle of super glue confiscated from the apartment where the incident took place and a photo of the wall where the girl’s handprints could be seen.
Lopez taped the interview with Escalona following the attack and she said in the video, “I’m taking the blame.” The officer said the mother refused to explain why she was taking the blame for the incident. “She never really asked” about her daughter’s status, Lopez said. “I had to tell her.”
Also testifying during the hearing was Escalona’s mother, Ofelia Escalona. Ofelia told the court that she was hit by Elizabeth when she was growing up as a child. Ofelia said that when she arrived at the apartment, because her daughter called her, she found Jocelyn on the ground breathing in a shallow manner.
“I had my daughter in front of me, but she was not all there,” Ofelia said. She then told the court that she took Jocelyn out of the apartment and had her son drive them to a hospital. But, on the way there, Jocelyn asked for food and began talking, leading Ofelia to believe she did not need to go to the hospital.
“I made a horrible mistake,” Ofelia Escalona said.
The sentencing hearing was scheduled to resume on Tuesday.