MIAMI – Martha’s body was brought to the medical examiner’s office when she was only 11 years old. She was 4 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighed just over 60 pounds.
This is how Dr. Kenneth Hutchins, the doctor who did the autopsy on the murder victim in Miami almost nine years ago, talked about him in court on Wednesday.
Some of the jurors were crying when the lawyers showed them pictures of Martha’s body on the medical examiner’s table. Hutchins said that the face injuries she had were “consistent with smothering.”
Prosecutors say that Miguel Ruiz Lobo, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 210 pounds, cut her arms and neck with a knife. Hutchin said that Martha had “multiple injuries” and that it was clear that her “manner of death” was a murder.
Hutchins said that he saw that Martha’s toenails “were painted green.” The reference was a reminder that on Tuesday, the DNA proof was the most important thing in court.
Prosecutors say that the skin under Martha’s fingernails showed that she had fought back, and the fact that she had scratched her killer helped them figure out who did it.
Sharon Hinez, a forensic investigator, said about the skin under Martha’s fingernails, “That foreign male DNA profile from the fingernail clippings matches the DNA profile from Miguel Ruiz.”
Earlier in the trial, prosecutors showed the jury security footage of Ruiz Lobo arriving at the crime scene in Miami’s Little Havana just before 10:30 a.m. on June 22, 2014, and leaving around 11 a.m. Her mother, Amaury Albarenga, told the judges that she found her with a knife in her neck.
Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Laura Adams said that Ruiz Lobo cut Martha’s wrists to make it look like she had killed herself, but he had actually killed her because she had been brave enough to ask her mother to break up with him.
Ruiz Lobo, who is 51 years old, has always said that he did not kill Martha. On Wednesday, he told the court that he will not speak at his trial. The prosecution wants the death sentence.
Since July 21, 2014, Ruiz Lobo has been in the care of the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation. Records show that he was held without bond on charges of first-degree murder, burglary of an occupied dwelling, and sexual battery on a child by an adult.
Later, the sexual battery charge was dropped. Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court is in charge of the case. His trial started on April 3, and the next court date is Thursday at 9 a.m.
