A victim of a San Diego County man accused of sexually assaulting two women during a series of break-ins testified during a preliminary hearing Monday, saying the man tried to rape her as she slept.
"When I woke up a person standing next to my bed...he had his pants down to his hips," said the sex assault victim, who did not want to be identified.
Michael Anthony Espinoza, 22, is charged with residential burglary, penetration with a foreign object with force, rape with force and assault with intent to commit rape during the commission of a burglary.
The court heard testimony from several witnesses to determine whether the case will go to trial. In court, prosecutors revealed one of the victims, a 62-year-old woman, was very ill when she was raped on December 2 and has since died.
One witness said she woke up to find the man standing above her, her husband next to her in bed and three kids at home.
"I woke up, I turned my face to see who was touching me," the victim said. "And because I thought it was my daughter, I yelled and I was upset, because I didn't like the way she was touching me." But the victim soon realized the person touching her was not her daughter.
After she screamed and asked what her daughter was doing, he didn't move. She screamed again, using her daughter's name, and he turned to the corner of her bed and sat down, which is when she saw his back.
"I yelled to my husband, 'there is a man in the house,' then he ran," the victim recalled in court during testimony. "He runs, unlocks the door in my bedroom and goes out and closes the door."
Suzanne Afasene, a witness, testified she went to a neighbor's apartment because she was concerned for her sick neighbor's safety and saw the accused, standing next to the neighbor with his pants down. In her testimony, Afasene identified Espinoza as the man by her bed.
It was only after interviewing the apartment residents that investigators discovered Espinoza had allegedly been raiding units through the night.
Veronica Rodas, a burglary victim, told NBC 7 she did not know the suspect had entered her home until deputies returned with her stolen wallet.
Her brother was sleeping on the couch, and her husband, 1-year-old and newborn were in the bedroom with her when Espinoza creeped into their house around 2 a.m.
"I'm just glad that I have two guys living with me," said Rodas. "He didn't do nothing to my kids; that's what I'm happy about too. He could have taken one of them. That would have been scary too."
Espinoza faces life in prison for the numerous charges against him.
The investigation is ongoing. If you know anything about these crimes, call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department at 858-565-5200.
