UPDATE:
Garcia has been sentenced to life in prison for one count of injury to a child and a second count for injury to a child, adding 20 years.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A jury returned a guilty verdict Wednesday in Waco's 19th State District Court in the case against a China Spring woman accused of abusing her stepdaughter.
The jury took less than an hour to convict 47-year-old Marisela Garcia of first and second degree charges of injury to a child.
During closing arguments Wednesday morning, several jury members could be seen crying while prosecutors again detailed their case against 47-year-old Marisela Garcia.
The defense wrapped up its case without calling Garcia to the stand.
The girl's father, 33-year-old Juan Velasquez, is a co-defendant in the case. He was charged with child endangerment — his felony case remains pending.
Court records identify the child using the initials K.V.
Prosecutors told jurors the now 15-year-old girl lived outside in an open shed and watched her family eat meals without her. Additionally, they showed video footage of K.V. digging through trash to find food. They also claim Garcia would rub spicy peppers on her genitals and took naked pictures of her to send to other people.
During closing arguments, K.V. was in the courtroom with her hands and legs visibly shaking.
Before deliberations started, a psychologist took the stand and called this one of the worst cases of abuse she's ever seen in her career.
"The torture, the abuse that K.V. has gone through has become a part of her," said Dr. Whitney Crowson, a licensed clinical psychologist from Houston.
"She prayed every night that God would get her out of her situation."
The girl took the stand on Wednesday and told the court her stepmother forced her to eat animal feces. The psychologist further detailed K.V.'s living situation. Dr. Crowson testified the girl was not allowed to attend church with the rest of her family and that no one at the church knew about her.
"She has a lot of sadness, a lot of confusion," Crowson testified, adding that the victim has high depression and anxiety.
While on the stand, K.V. also said K.V. told her Garcia would encourage her to commit suicide, even giving her suggestions on how to kill herself, including taking an overdose of pills.
"She prayed every night that God would get her out of her situation," Crowson said on the stand.
