DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The trial continues Thursday for the man accused of beating his girlfriend’s daughter to death in 2016. The death of four-year-old Leiliana Wright rocked North Texas after gruesome details emerged from the case.
Leiliana’s mother, Jeri Quezada, pleaded guilty in July 2017 as part of a plea deal.
She was back on the stand Thursday and talked about the torture her daughter endured before she was killed.
Leiliana Wright (credit: Alisa & Craig Clakley)
Charles Wayne Phifer, 36, faces a capital murder charge for killed the four-year-old in Grand Prairie in 2016.
Quezada showed little emotion on the stand as she admitted to taking her anger out on her children.
Charles Phifer
Court records show the mother told investigators her daughter was injured after falling in the shower. However, authorities say Quezada changed her story several times during the week. She later admitted to shooting heroin and then repeatedly hitting her daughter.
She testified that Phifer tied her daughter up with belts inside the closet and used electric wire around her wrists.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner says Leiliana died of blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.
Quezada spoke of the chilling words from her daughter before she died. When asked if her daughter said she didn’t want live anymore, the mother replied: “She did.”
Quezada will spend 50 years behind bars.
Grand Prairie police who handled the case also testified on Thursday.