Details of sexual assault, evidence define first two days of McAllen murder trial

EDINBURG — Evidence defined the second day of trial in the murder case involving a McAllen man allegedly killed by a woman who worked as his maid, and who said she did what she had to do.

That evidence included cellphones, fingernail clippings, blood and saliva swaps as well as clothing, and crime scene photos that showed several prescription medicines — all displayed in court during trial Tuesday in Adriana Aleman’s case.

Aleman, 44, is accused of murdering Homero Longoria, 71, of McAllen at his North 34th Street home on Jan. 28, 2022.

She had called 911 to report that Longoria had allegedly tried assaulting her at his residence, located at 5908 N. 34th St., and that she defended herself by choking him, a probable cause affidavit said.

Responding officers said Aleman told them that Longoria asked her to his home to discuss a “sickness,” and that he attempted to sexually assault her.

One of the medications seen in the crime scene photos Tuesday was valacyclovir, which is used to treat herpes zoster, or shingles, and genital herpes.

During testimony Monday, defense attorney Ricardo “Rick” Salinas asked hypothetically whether Alejandro Cortez, a McAllen police officer who responded, would be intimate with someone knowing that they are HIV positive or have an STD.

But Hidalgo County Assistant District Attorney Troy Tijerina said Longoria was not HIV positive and did not have AIDS.

Aleman’s 911 call was also played for jurors Monday, and was heard asking for police and said she had to defend herself against Longoria, but doesn’t know if he’s alive. A distraught Aleman also admitted to asphyxiating him amid loud cries.

She went on to say on the call that Longoria tried assaulting her, and that he had been bothering her and she had to block his number.

“I came here to tell him to leave me alone,” she said in Spanish on Monday.

She said she squeezed his neck because he was touching himself, and later ripped her blouse and grabbed her chest.

“I’m scared. Please hurry,” she pleaded with the dispatcher. “No, I didn’t want to do that to him,” Aleman said as she wept.

In addition, Aleman said she cleaned off the blood that was on her and claimed he scratched and grabbed her, and smeared it on her.

Sgt. Andrew Garza, the first McAllen police officer who responded to the scene, also testified Monday and said he found Aleman upset at the doorway, that she was distraught but didn’t see any visible injuries on her.

Garza said he went inside the residence and found Longoria on the kitchen floor as well as a bloody rag. Crime scene photos also show Longoria lying on the kitchen floor next to the kitchen table with two chairs knocked over, one of them being under the table.

Also, Garza said that blood had pooled in Longoria’s mouth, which was also shown in the photos as well as the table being slightly shifted to the side and a cup of coffee and a water bottle still sitting on the table.

Garza then spoke to one of his fellow officers who said Aleman told him that Longoria attacked her and that she did what she had to do, resulting in Garza arresting her. Garza could see that her blouse was torn.

Other notable items from Monday’s testimony included information about Longoria making a call using *67 the day of his death, and officer Miguel De Los Santos testifying that Aleman told him Longoria grabbed her chest and shirt, leading her to believe she was going to be assaulted.

The court saw vehicle footage of Aleman being put into the rear of a police unit where she continued to cry. At one point one officer checks on her and she begs him to not leave her alone.

A crime scene investigator then took photos of her, and it was then that Aleman stated that Longoria hit her and pulled her hair.

When officers told her that they were taking her to the police station for questioning, she said they wouldn’t believe her because she killed him. Asked about the blood on her person, she said that it didn’t belong to her.

During testimony from Cortez, Salinas asked him if deadly force is reasonable during a sexual assault, to which he agreed.

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