General Discussion

Grokenstein

(5,721 posts) Sat Feb 13, 2021, 07:27 AM Feb 2021

WTF, TEXAS: 17-Year-Old Sex-Trafficking Victim To Be Tried As Adult for Murder

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/02/12/2175178/0/en/17-Year-Old-Zephi-Trevino-To-Be-Tried-As-Adult-for-Capital-Murder.html

DALLAS, Feb. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Press House announces that Zephaniah Trevino, known as “Zephi” to her friends and family, was just 16 years old when her sex trafficker shot a man with whom she was being forced to perform sex acts. In a stunning hearing today, a judge ruled that the teen will be tried as an adult for a murder she didn’t commit.

(snip)

In December, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot faced calls for his recusal from the case after he shared a social media post from David Finn, the attorney of the man who is accused of abusing Zephi and who has admitted to pulling the trigger the night of the murder. The post outlined details of the case — details that Zephi’s attorneys, Justin Moore and Ashkan Mehryari, are prohibited from discussing due to juvenile confidentiality laws in Texas. In addition, Finn has gone on record about the great friendship he enjoys with Creuzot. This obvious bias against the young woman has heightened pressure for Creuzot to remove himself from Zephi’s case.

“The system in Dallas County is set up to destroy the lives of child sex trafficking victims,” said Moore. “It seeks to force victims into submission and corner them into taking responsibility for the crimes of their abusers. Fighting against such a system takes an incredible amount of courage and grit. It’s unfortunate that a young girl is being asked to display this.”

(more at source)

What in the actual hell, Texans. Fortunately, Zephi's case has attracted the attention of activists and advocates, including celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis and...Kim Kardashian? Okay, every voice counts, I guess...but one can only imagine what it's like for the victims who can't get that sort of help.