SAN ANTONIO -- A teenage girl committed suicide after her family said she was brutally beaten and raped. But the family blames the San Antonio Police Department for her death.
The 17-year-old Beatrice Delgado was found hanging from a rope at her house Sunday afternoon.
"They failed the system, they failed us, and my daughter. Now she's dead," said Rebecca Garza, the teenager's mother.
According to Roxanne Garza, Delgado's older sister, the 17-year-old went out Saturday night with another girl. She told her family she would be back soon but Garza says she never returned.
It wasn't until Sunday morning Garza recalls seeing her sister at the door, in a horrifying condition.
"I opened the door and I saw her with a busted lip," Garza said. "She had bruises on her cheek. She was crying. She told me that she got raped and got away. She said the cop dropped her off here."
That police officer, Garza added, was sitting in the car the entire time. She said she walked up to his unit and asked him what happened.
"He told me my sister was sexually assaulted. He told me that it's critical we take her to the hospital," Garza said.
She then learned the officer had offered to give her sister a ride to the hospital but her sister refused, Garza continued.
According to the police report, the SAPD officer picked up Delgado at the intersection of Dugas Drive and Rainbow Creek after searching for her in several places.
The officer stated that Delgado was not cooperating and refused to give information about the suspect.
She told the officer she was tied, beaten and raped.
The report adds the officer started to take Delgado to the hospital but she changed her mind before they could get there. The officer then drove Delgado home.
"She wanted me to go with her. She didn't want to be alone," Garza said. "She didn't want them checking her alone and she was traumatized."
Garza says she walked up to the officer's unit, parked outside their house, and asked if he could give her and Delgado a ride to the hospital because they had no means of transportation.
"He said find transportation and you can take her yourself later on," Garza said. "I was calling everybody. Everybody seemed to be busy or something."
Delgado never made it to the hospital. Several hours later, the teenager hung herself.
"She told us she was tired and she was going to rest in her room. My brother went to check on her a couple of hours later and found her in the back of the house hanging from a rope," Garza said.
"If he would have given us a transportation like we asked him, my daughter wouldn't have been dead right now," Delgado's mother said. "I hope another parent doesn't go through this, that an officer doesn't do his job."
But SAPD officials tell us they can not force an adult to go to the hospital.
However, SAPD also said that a supervisor has visited the family to take their complaint of the officer refusing to give them a ride. SAPD said the supervisor is forwarding the allegations to internal affairs. An investigation is now under way into whether proper procedures were followed or not.
George Alejos with LULAC tells KENS 5 "while they are not accusing the police department, they feel the department failed to do everything in their power to protect Delgado."
As for the alleged rape incident, an investigation is also under way. Police say they have no suspects in custody at this time.
