Content warning: discussion of child abuse and sexual assault
This case has been very interesting to me for years because it's simultaneously infamous and seemingly unknown to anyone outside of San Antonio. I lived here for years before I even heard about it. There is an amazing documentary about it called Southwest of Salem, which is how I actually heard about it. Southwest of Salem follows the women through their sentences as they fight for freedom and exoneration. As of the time I'm writing this, it's free to stream on Tubi, Vudu, and Amazon Prime Video. I highly recommend if you have one of these services, you should watch it. It's almost like you're going through their journey to exoneration with them.
In 1994, Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquez were accused of sexually assaulting Elizabeth's 7 and 9 year old nieces. These women were openly gay, which in a lot of the south is still frowned upon, but it was even worse in the 90s, especially in religious areas like San Antonio. Re-watching the documentary, they say there was homophobia in the investigators, the jury, and the court. One thing about San Antonio that some people may not know is the prominent Catholic influence that can still be seen in 2021. We have 3 private, Catholic universities: Our Lady of the Lake, St. Mary's, and University of the Incarnate Word.
As I mentioned in the Gay Panic post, the portrayal of LGBTQIA+ people as predatory is inherently problematic, but it is also openly harmful to members of that community. In the 1990s, the belief that LGBTQIA+ people were predatory was a widely held belief. Because of this, the jury was more inclined to believe that these lesbian and bisexual women assaulted those little girls, and all four of them were wrongfully convicted. All of them were sentenced to 15 years, except for Elizabeth, who received 37.5 years because she was believed to be the ring leader.
In 2012 one of Elizabeth's nieces admitted to being pressured by her dad into making a false accusation against these women because her dad (Elizabeth's ex-brother-in-law) had made advances toward Elizabeth and she rejected him. Four lives were destroyed because one man couldn't handle rejection. Let that sink in. Anna and Cassandra were raising two kids together at the time of their arrest. Elizabeth was pregnant and forced to give up her baby. All because one man couldn't handle being rejected.
Anna was paroled in 2012. In 2013, Texas passed a law allowing prisoners to challenge their convictions if new or changed scientific evidence arose. Because of this, they were able to challenge their convictions, and the others were out on bail in 2013 with the assistance of the Innocence Project of Texas. In 2015, all four women attend an exoneration trial, and in 2016, all four were exonerated.
Below is part of the timeline provided by the director of Southwest of Salem. The full timeline can be found at http://www.southwestofsalem.com/timeline-1
However, that's not where their stories end. Even though they were exonerated, those felony charges were still on their records. In 2018, Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez had their convictions removed by District Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl (https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/judge-clears-records-wrongfully-convicted-san-antonio-four-n943751).
Cases like this always stick with me when it comes to true crime. It's the wrongful convictions that hit me the hardest, especially those who serve most of their sentence before they're exonerated. The saddest part is this is not a unique story. Texas has a long history with wrongfully convicting people and not convicting those that should be. Not to mention, the countless missing persons cases that go cold for decades.
These women deserved better. They didn't deserve to spend time behind bars for something they didn't do. The fact that this case seems entirely forgotten is so wild to me. I was living in San Antonio for 3 years before they were exonerated. I was living here for 3 years before I even heard about their case. It wasn't on social media, and it was barely in the news. I hadn't even heard whispers about it on campus. That is bananas. I honestly believe that is because they are members of two marginalized groups: LGBTQIA+ and Latinx. Even though they were natives of San Antonio, it seemed like the whole city just wanted to forget about them. That doesn't sit right with me. That's why I made this post. Their story shouldn't be forgotten. They deserved better. If we forget about them, then there is a chance that what happened to them, could happen to someone else.
I also want to mention there was very little published about this case that I could find. Most of my information came from the Southwest of Salem website and a few articles I found. Other than that, there isn't a ton of information out there. However, I'm looking into the West Memphis Three and there is more information than I can fit in one post. Again, this demonstrates the discrepancies in true crime reporting.
If someone you know may be wrongfully convicted, you can contact the Innocence Project of Texas at https://innocencetexas.org/contact-us. If you are outside the state of Texas, here is the link for the Innocence Project at large https://innocenceproject.org/
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