Defense calls more witnesses in Preston Strong murder trial
Preston Strong’s attorneys continued their focus on what other neighbors witnessed the day of the 2005 “La Mesa” murders in Yuma County Superior Court Tuesday, the second day of defense testimony in his capital murder trial.
When asked by defense attorney Bill Fox, of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, about whether he saw anything unusual that day, Resendo Padilla Flores said that he heard several loud noises that he described as “impacts” and saw a taxi cab in the vicinity.
Padilla Flores, who lives three houses away from 2037 La Mesa Street, testified that he had just arrived at his home when noticed a taxi cab slow down in front of the home next to the house where the murders happened and someone get out.
Once out of the cab, that person, Padilla Flores said, jumped the fence into the backyard of the house next door to the La Mesa residence, That same person, he added, then jumped the back fence into the alley.
Moments later Padilla Flores said he heard the loud “impacts,” but could not tell where they had come from. He then began looking around to try and see what, if anything, was happening.
“I thought it was children playing with firecrackers,” Padilla Flores said.
Fox then asked if he could describe the person he saw get out of the cab, with Padilla Flores saying he was short, estimating him to be somewhere between four feet and five feet tall.
As for that individual’s race, Padilla Flores said he did not know because he only saw him from behind.
“I could not tell what race he was because I did not see him face-to-face,” Padilla Flores said.
Padilla Flores also testified that he could not remember what the person was wearing because it had happened so long ago.
During cross examination by prosecutor John Tate, of the Yuma County Attorney’s Office, Padilla Flores testified that he also saw the Dodge Durango, which belonged to one of the victims, drive past him, which is something he never mentioned to police.
A defense witness testified on Monday that she had seen a Hispanic man come out of the house, get into the Durango, and drive away. She also said that she saw a man come running out of the home afterwards and go into the backyard.
When Tate asked Padilla Flores if he had seen this also, he said he had not.
“No I never saw anything like that,” he said.
On June 24, 2005, at about 8:25 p.m., Yuma police were dispatched to 2037 E. La Mesa St. after several people called 911 to report that shots had been fired and a person was yelling for help.
Upon arrival, officers found a man later identified as Rios in the backyard with multiple gunshot wounds.
Inside, police found the bodies of 29-year-old Adrienne Heredia and her four children — 13-yearold Andreas Crawford and 12-year-old Enrique Bedoya, Inez Newman and 6-year-old Danny Heredia. Some of the victims had been bound and strangled, and some had been shot.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 5396854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.