Domestic violence survivor criticizes plea deal that gave attacker no jail time

SAN ANTONIO – A home abuser with a prior circle of relatives violence conviction in Bexar County used to be given 5 years probation and no jail time as a part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Now, the deal is being criticized by means of the sufferer within the case.

William Steen, 41, is scheduled to stay on probation till August 2027 and would possibly not have touch with sufferer Erika Gross, with whom he stocks a kid.

Steen broke Gross’ nostril, knocked out a number of of her enamel and fractured her ribs all over a violent assault within a Medical Center rental in June 2020, in step with police and clinical information received by means of KSAT Investigates.

WARNING: Graphic photographs underneath

Multiple BBs had been lodged in Gross’ scalp after Steen many times shot her with a BB gun.

He extensively utilized a tv far off to many times strike her, an arrest warrant states.

Pictures of Gross’ accidents display her with a significantly bruised and swollen face, with crimson marks on her neck and blood coming from her ears.

“He spit in my face and told me he was going to knock me out again,” Gross advised KSAT.

In an interview, she mentioned that Steen beat her with anything else he may to find ahead of she escaped via a bed room window and ran to a neighbor’s rental for assist.

“They told me this was the worst case they’d seen where somebody actually survived,” mentioned Gross, regarding what investigators advised her after the assault.

Gross used to be pressured to have surgical treatment to realign a bone in her face and has racked up clinical expenses totaling round $35,000, information display.

Steen used to be sooner or later arrested on a legal rate of circle of relatives violence-2d, an increased rate since he had a prior home violence conviction in Bexar County.

The assault on Gross used to be Steen’s 3rd home violence arrest; a 2011 legal circle of relatives violence rate towards Steen used to be pushed aside in 2013 because of inadequate proof, Bexar County court docket information display.

“It doesn’t make me feel safe at all.”

Gross and officers with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office have given differing accounts of what ended in Steen’s plea deal in August.

Gross advised KSAT she cooperated with the prosecution or even practiced her testimony with an assistant district legal professional at the day ahead of jury variety used to be scheduled to start for Steen’s trial.

Gross mentioned she then were given a choice from a prosecutor informing her that Steen had signed a plea settlement as an alternative.

“That was all she kept telling me, ‘well, at least we got a win,’” mentioned Gross. “I had to hang up the phone with her. I was so upset and hurt. And all I could do is kind of just scream. It doesn’t make me feel safe at all.”

Gross mentioned she used to be stuck off guard by means of the deal.

A DA spokesperson, on the other hand, advised KSAT by means of electronic mail Gross used to be made acutely aware of the plea be offering a large number of instances ahead of it used to be prolonged and that the sufferer’s doable testimony introduced demanding situations to prosecutors.

District Attorney Joe Gonzales final week expanded on his place of job’s commentary, telling KSAT in an interview “there were some issues as to the credibility of that complainant.”

“If somebody we know has a criminal history isn’t held accountable, that is always a concern for us because there’s a potential that he may continue to offend. So, it is disappointing,” mentioned Gonzales.

Steen’s protection legal professional didn’t reply to a choice searching for remark for this tale.

Find sources for sufferers of home violence right here.

Capital homicide suspect had in the past been given deal in irritated theft case

Another earlier plea settlement involving a previous violent perpetrator has come beneath scrutiny in Bexar County in fresh weeks.

A San Antonio youngster accused of capturing and killing two different teenagers in an East Side motel room in January had in the past been given a plea deal in an irritated theft case that shortened how a lot time he used to be required to spend in jail, court docket information display.

Kristian Belmudez, 19, is accused of killing Gabriel A. Sanchez, 19, and Sanaa Keilani McNeil, 19, at a Travelodge within the 3800 block of Interstate 35 North on Jan. 16.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice information display Belmudez used to be paroled from state custody on a theft conviction in May 2022.

A parole warrant used to be then issued for Belmudez’s re-arrest in overdue December 2022, simply weeks ahead of he used to be accused of wearing out the deadly shootings.

Belmudez used to be amongst a gaggle of folks in December 2020 who robbed a person at gunpoint after which fired at his automotive as he drove away, after the sufferer used to be lured to the 800 block of Rita Ave.

The sufferer, who KSAT isn’t figuring out, believed he used to be assembly up with any person he had met on an web courting web site, in step with a warrant for Belmudez’s arrest.

Belmudez used to be arrested in early January 2021 and remained in jail looking ahead to trial.

As a part of a plea deal with prosecutors in October 2021, Belmudez used to be given a discounted rate of theft in trade for serving two years in jail.

Since prosecutors determined to depart the “affirmative finding of deadly weapon” phase of the plea deal clean, it decreased Belmudez’s sentence.

Instead of serving a minimum of part of a five-year sentence, a regulation laid out in the Texas Government Code, or a minimum of two years day-for-day in jail, Belmudez spent lower than 17 months at the back of bars in all.

A DA spokesperson advised KSAT by means of electronic mail that the sufferer within the theft case refused to cooperate with prosecutors, and that with out a witness within the case, the rate can have probably been pushed aside.

“There are times when we need the cooperation of the victim, especially on a robbery. Someone needs to come to court to identify that they were in fear for their safety or for their life and that property was taken from them,” mentioned Gonzales.

Belmudez is in jail looking ahead to indictment for capital murder-multiple individuals, after he used to be arrested by means of the SAPD Covert Response Team and contributors of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force final month.