Documents reveal contrary motives in Beach Park baseball bat slayings
A Beach Park man accused of beating his wife and stepson to death with a baseball bat claims he caught his wife molesting the boy just prior to the fatal confrontation, court records show.
However, prosecutors say text messages show Armando Trejo and his wife were arguing over her suspicions of infidelity in the days leading up to the Nov. 29, 2015, killings.
Trejo, 50, is awaiting a March trial on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated battery stemming from the deaths of Lailani Uy Trejo, 43, and his stepson, Patrick K. Cruz Uy, 14. Trejo has been held in the Lake County jail on $5 million bail since his arrest.
According to court documents, defense attorneys say Armando Trejo was "acting under a sudden and intense passion" when he attacked the victims. He later told a psychologist that he "caught his wife molesting their son, and that is why he beat them with a baseball bat," documents state.
But prosecutors say in court documents that in the four days before the killings, Trejo and his wife exchanged text messages about allegations he was having an affair.
"This ongoing argument and observable marital discord is the true reason the defendant murdered his wife ... and not the salacious molestation story the defendant claimed," prosecutors state.
Authorities said emergency dispatchers received a call from Lailani Uy Trejo the morning of the attack saying she "needs police" and "she was dying and she was bleeding." Dispatchers heard several "ping" sounds, which authorities say was the sound of an aluminum bat striking her.
Trejo later admitted to attacking his wife during an argument, then hitting his 68-year-old mother when she tried to intervene. Trejo also assaulted his 14-year-old stepson when the boy tried to stop the attack, authorities said.
Trejo's father was in the house during the attack but was not injured.
Trejo's trial is scheduled March 4. His next scheduled court date is Feb. 27.