The survivors describe the screaming and pleas for help from the inside of the tractor trailer.
SAN ANTONIO — Survivors of the Quintana Road human smuggling tragedy spoke out for the first time.
On Wednesday, they took the stand in federal court – serving as key witnesses in the trial of two men accused of playing a role in the deadly 2022 incident.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 53 people who were trafficked inside a sweltering tractor-trailer in the scorching heat of June, 2022. Now it’s up to a jury to decide what role Felipe Orduna Torres and Armando Gonzales Ortega allegedly played in this smuggling case.
From the moment they realized they couldn’t breathe and started to fall asleep, to when they woke up in the hospital, the jury has heard from those who’ve described the horrible conditions inside the tractor trailer.
The first witness, 26-year-old Greysi Sanjay from Guatemala, described hearing people screaming for help inside the tractor trailer to get out.
Sanjay described how she had no water – only some saline solution from a girl who snuck it on to the truck. She recalled a seasoning in the truck that itched and burned, and how they’re cellphones were taken from them.
Sanjay said whoever was driving told them they would open the doors, but never did.
The defense questioned every part of her story – from how she and other migrants were transported, to what Sanjay thought she heard.
The second victim, 34-year-old Jose Luis Vazquez Guzman, who served in the Mexican Army for six years, lost two people in the trailer with him, one being his cousin, Javier.
Vazquez Guzman broke down on the stand when shown their pictures.
He described the journey to get from Mexico, and the deplorable conditions he was put in trying to get to the tractor trailer.
Other evidence brought in front of a 17-person jury were some of the communications between the two defendants, and their alleged co-conspirators.
Prosecution also showed surveillance of where the tractor trailer loaded up migrants in Laredo, along with a blue ford F-150 believed to belong to Gonzales Ortegas, which was seen circling around the tractor trailer.
The same truck was spotted at a checkpoint where the tractor trailer was seen too.
The defense is questioning why federal agencies didn’t catch ten other successful operations by this group before June 2022.
Testimony and evidence all given to decide what Felipe Orduna Torres and Armando Gonzales Ortega’s roles allegedly were in this operation.
They’re two of a group of men accused of conspiring to smuggle migrants over the border in 2022.
Four men have pleaded guilty so far. The trial could go on for four weeks, but by the end the two men could be looking at life sentences.
The defense is trying to argue the validity in this case. They claim a conspiracy is at play from the side of the U.S. government.
The accused driver, Homero Zamorano Jr., pleaded guilty in January. The alleged ring leader, Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, is awaiting extradition.
The trial is expected to last four weeks, with both sides arguing over the extent of the defendants’ involvement.