0:03

Zeffi Trevino was a normal teenage

0:05

girl growing up outside of Dallas, Texas,

0:07

with a life that revolved around family, church,

0:10

and softball. When Zeffie got to high

0:12

school, though, a boyfriend introduced her to

0:14

drugs and then broke her heart. Then

0:17

nineteen year old Philip Baldo Negro

0:19

swooped in through social media to

0:21

pray on this vulnerable high

0:23

school sophomore. Bald Negro introduced

0:26

himself to Zeffie's parents as a friend of Zeffie's

0:28

from school, and soon used psychological

0:30

manipulation, violence, and intimidation

0:33

to drag Zeffi into the dark underworld

0:35

of sex trafficking. Alarming changes

0:38

in Zeffi's behavior prompted Henry and Crystal

0:40

Trevino to install a tracking app

0:42

on their daughter's phone, but this didn't

0:44

stop bald Negro from using Zeffie's

0:47

body and her misery for his profit.

0:49

Then, on August

0:52

two men were lured to an apartment with the

0:54

promise of sex with Zeffi. The

0:56

men were robbed instead by Balda

0:58

Negro and an accomplice, and a fight broke

1:01

out, resulting in Balda Negro shooting

1:03

and killing one of the would be child rapists.

1:06

This is going to be a first for this podcast,

1:08

an interview that takes place before trial,

1:11

before a grave mistake is made,

1:13

where I speak with Zeppi's lawyer,

1:15

Justin Moore and her mother, Crystal

1:18

Travino. Zeffi is currently

1:20

out of Juvie awaiting trial while the

1:22

Dallas County District Attorney tries

1:24

to charge her for her sex traffickers

1:27

crime, compounding what has already

1:29

been an unbelievably tragic experience

1:32

by potentially sending Zeffy to spend

1:35

the rest of her life in prison. This

1:38

is Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom.

1:53

Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction with

1:55

Jason Flam. That's me. I'm your

1:57

host, of course, and today we are

1:59

going telling a story that is

2:01

happening in real time and beyond that.

2:04

It's a story that is so disturbing.

2:06

You know, I think that anyone who's a parent while

2:09

then may be hard to hear. It's something

2:11

that you need to hear. They're gonna be action

2:13

steps at the end of it, and there are things we can do

2:16

to make a difference. We're gonna be telling

2:18

the story today of a young teenage

2:20

girl named Zeffie Trevino,

2:22

who was sex trafficked then

2:25

re victimized by the authorities

2:27

at a time when they should have and I

2:29

believe did no better. First, I want to introduce

2:32

to you and emerging giant in

2:34

the defense community. Justin

2:36

Moore, who is Zeffie's lawyer, is here,

2:38

suggin. Welcome to Ronthal Conviction. Thank

2:40

you, Jason, And today with us is one of the

2:42

most courageous and

2:45

strong women I've ever had the privilege

2:47

to know. Zeffie's mom, Crystal

2:49

Trevino is here. So Crystal, thank

2:51

you for being here with us today. Thank you so

2:54

much, Jason. So, this

2:57

is a story of a young girl

2:59

from I'm gonna is call it a normal

3:01

family. What whatever normal is. This is

3:03

a nuclear family in a town in

3:05

Texas outside of Dallas. This took

3:07

place in Grand Prairie, Texas, which is between

3:10

Dallas and Fort Worth, just a suburb city.

3:13

Tell us about Zeffie growing up and about

3:15

the family situation prior to

3:17

this disastrous chain of events.

3:20

Like you said, we're a normal family.

3:23

She was into sports, softball,

3:25

specifically volleyball. She

3:28

loves music, she loves to sing.

3:31

She was just kind of one

3:33

of those kids that people were drawn to,

3:35

very charismatic, laughing, having

3:37

fun, and really

3:40

supported by her siblings. You know, she

3:42

has three older siblings, two

3:44

sisters and a brother, her church

3:46

family and the community, my husband

3:48

and myself softball coaches, so just

3:52

what I would consider everybody's

3:54

normal family. And

3:57

as she entered into high school

3:59

a young may and her freshman year introduced

4:02

her to drugs

4:05

and the toxic relationship, and so Zeffie

4:07

struggled with that her freshman year. Going

4:10

into her sophomore year, which

4:12

was her sixteenth birthday year, we

4:15

saw so many changes, not just

4:17

physically, mentally starting

4:19

to have a lot of anxiety and withdraw

4:22

from her family, and to see her sleep

4:24

a lot, and see herly's weight and

4:26

just what I would consider vulnerable. You

4:28

know, she was trying to overcome all these things

4:31

that had happened from the previous boyfriend.

4:33

And we didn't realize, but

4:35

she meets Philip through

4:37

social media. Um

4:39

May of twenty nineteen, we met

4:42

Philip in our home. When we met him,

4:44

he just did not seem

4:46

the type of person that Zeph and

4:48

I would normally be associated

4:50

with. Very quiet, very strange.

4:53

She didn't introduce him as her boyfriend

4:56

just as a friend, and asked how

4:58

they knew each other. He said through cool

5:00

and also said that he was seventeen

5:03

at the time. My daughter was sixteen. So

5:06

and of course we're talking about nineteen

5:08

year old Philip bald Negro who

5:11

had already I guess, identified

5:13

her as a potential target and

5:16

was already sort of using

5:19

the various mind games

5:21

and other coercive tactics

5:24

to sort of draw her into

5:27

his web. You know, the

5:29

way this thing unraveled, it

5:31

reminds me as much as anything of

5:33

the movie Cape Fear with Robert de Niro, because

5:36

this Bald the Negro character, you

5:38

know, began keeping Zeffie out

5:41

all hours of the night. The Trevinos,

5:43

to their credit, Henry and Crystal,

5:45

it's all the tracking gapp on her phone,

5:48

because they obviously knew

5:50

that things were not right with this

5:52

new person in her life. Little

5:54

could they have known just how bad it

5:56

was. But then one night

5:59

she didn't come home at all. The tracking

6:01

app was deleted and her phone had been

6:03

turned off. You know, we had the Life

6:06

three six app for kids on

6:08

there that turns off social media tracks.

6:11

But when it's deleted, you know, your hands

6:13

are tied. They communicated

6:16

through text and I always thought

6:18

that it was my daughter texting. I can't

6:20

even say that for sure now that it

6:22

wasn't Helm texting saying that

6:24

the movie was over and that they would be home

6:27

after eating a small bite, and

6:30

and then she's gone. It was investigated

6:32

as a missing person's case. She

6:35

came home two days later, hadn't

6:37

eaten anything, and was she was wearing clothes that

6:39

had not been provided to her by

6:41

the family. So all the

6:43

alarm bells are going off. You know, my gut

6:45

wish she was on drugs and and to see

6:48

your child declined the way

6:50

that she did, it was very hard

6:52

to understand what was going on because it was

6:54

happening so fast. What did you

6:56

do at that point? And what could you advise

6:59

other parents to do in that situation?

7:01

You know you're trusting and and and I'll say

7:03

this, Jason, that you know I've worked in a school

7:05

district, so I always saw kids

7:07

differently, I guess in my eyes. So I never wanted

7:10

to just point blank be like this kid

7:12

is no good. Um. But I look

7:15

back on it now and I think I felt

7:17

it. I knew it, And so as a parent, if

7:20

your gut is telling you this is not

7:22

a good thing. This is not a good idea. They shouldn't

7:24

have gone out to the movies. Go

7:26

with your gut feeling. I'm

7:28

not sure what could have been done other

7:31

than you know, for parents, I would suggest

7:33

be on that social media on their

7:35

phones. Do whatever you can.

7:38

And I hate to say this, but they

7:40

don't have privacy. Do whatever you

7:42

have to do to protect your kid. The

7:55

predator that entered my

7:57

daughter's life looked like the normal

8:00

teenage person and

8:02

was able to manipulate, threaten,

8:06

change her, change everything

8:08

that was happening in our life and in her life.

8:10

At the time. What I understood

8:12

sex trafficking to be looked totally different

8:14

than what has happened in our family.

8:17

I always pictured the movie Taken, where your

8:19

kid is kidnapped and taken

8:22

across you know, countries, and it's

8:25

happening right here, right here

8:27

in America, right here in Texas,

8:30

and it can happen to any young girl that's

8:32

vulnerable or is trusting

8:35

a young boy. And we know now

8:38

that this was a very violent guy. And this

8:40

is I think a tactic that is not uncommon,

8:43

which is that the trafficker will once they

8:45

identify and they coerce their victim

8:47

into this web, they will

8:49

then use threats of violence or

8:51

actual violence against them, but also against

8:53

their family. So they put the child in

8:56

an impossible situation where

8:58

they're saying, look, if you try to run away or

9:00

you try to tell the authorities about us or

9:02

whatever, we're gonna harm your

9:04

family. We might kill your family. And when

9:06

you're sitting there in that situation and

9:08

you recognize that this is a person who is

9:10

capable of extreme violence, in fact you're on the

9:13

receiving end of it, there's every reason that you

9:15

should take those threats seriously.

9:17

And that's exactly what

9:20

Zeffie was experiencing. And then

9:22

things got really insane.

9:26

On August three, two thousand nineteen,

9:28

and around four thirty pm,

9:30

twenty four year old Carlos Matrio

9:33

and another man went to an apartment on the three

9:35

block of Northeast fifth Street in Grand

9:37

Prairie, Texas. They were lured

9:39

there by the promise of sex with Zeffie.

9:42

Bald the Negro and an accomplice, Jesse

9:44

Martinez, surprised and robbed

9:47

the men. A fight broke out, resulting

9:49

in Bald the Negro shooting and killing

9:52

Mario. And I do want

9:54

to turn to you, Justin's if you can explain

9:57

how this turned

9:59

into it turned into with Zeffie

10:02

being charged with capital murder

10:04

for a shooting that no one claims that she

10:06

committed. No one. When the Trevinos reached

10:08

out to me and they explained

10:10

the details of this case, it was something that

10:12

really grabbed me immediately. And

10:15

I can't speak to specifics

10:17

because I'm bound to confidentiality

10:19

laws regarding miners. But what I can talk

10:21

about are the facts that are incontrovertible at

10:23

the moment. What we do know is that Balda

10:25

Negro has admitted to being the shooter.

10:28

And we do know that the two men that one

10:30

of which was murdered, but the other one that was

10:32

assaulted by Balda Negro and his accomplice,

10:35

they were there to purchase sex

10:37

from a minor child. You know, these facts

10:39

are incontrovertible. Everybody knows

10:41

that these are the facts. There's not one person

10:44

on any side of this that claims that she shot

10:46

a gun held a gun. I mean, here's

10:49

a young girl in a place that

10:51

she's not in of her own free will, and

10:53

then a dispute breaks out in

10:56

the middle of a robbery that results in a murder.

10:58

So what was she supposed to put on some

11:00

sort of superhero cape and try to stop

11:03

them. I mean, she was there because

11:05

she was in the process of being kidnapped,

11:08

and she was being held there so that somebody

11:10

could make money by selling her body.

11:13

And I hate saying it, I hate hearing myself

11:15

say it, but that's what it was. So

11:17

then this murder takes place and Zeppy,

11:20

a victim, a child sex trafficking

11:22

victim, is now being charged

11:25

as a perpetrator. What has been widely

11:27

reported was that Zeffy was in pre trial

11:29

custody in the Dallas County Juvenile Facility

11:31

for a year awaiting trial, and obviously

11:34

that's spilled into the COVID nineteen pandemic. I

11:36

definitely want to commend you, Jason. A lot

11:38

of the attention that you brought this case

11:40

allowed for Zeffy to be

11:43

released pre trial, along with the legal

11:45

work too. But I actually got worried about

11:47

this from Crystal and Henry, Zeffie's

11:49

parents. The Dallas District Attorney's

11:51

office is actually trying to certify her as an adult,

11:54

so if she gets certified as an

11:56

adult. She's going to be facing life in prison.

11:58

And if she takes this to trial, and

12:00

god forbid, loses at trial, she's

12:03

facing conviction as an adult

12:05

for being a victim. It's a

12:07

failed social policy in which we

12:09

allow a young child who has been victimized

12:12

severely to be placed in this position,

12:14

to be doubly victimized

12:16

by the criminal justice system. She was

12:18

sixteen, she was a child.

12:21

There were four grown men in that

12:23

place. She was the only one that

12:25

was a child. She is a victim.

12:28

She was being sex traffic. She did

12:30

not pull the trigger, she did not beat

12:32

them, she did not steal anything. I

12:34

really have a hard time understanding why

12:37

my daughter is in this situation. Any

12:40

time I read about a state

12:42

trying to decide whether to

12:44

try a child as an adult. Who

12:46

gets to decide whether a child is an adult?

12:49

Is that like deciding whether up is down? A

12:51

child is a child. When you're sixteen, you

12:54

don't know shit about anything.

12:56

The world is still a mystery.

12:59

So how do the state of Texas

13:01

get to even say, on a broad

13:03

legal principle, justin that

13:06

that this child is an adult.

13:08

We've decided that she's an adult as

13:10

a general principle. As a broad legal principle,

13:13

states, especially the state of Texas, I

13:15

can try a child as an adult when it comes to

13:17

the severity of the crime or if

13:19

the child, through a diagnostic exam, has shown

13:21

themselves to a mental type of nature

13:24

that implies some level of criminality

13:26

that goes up and beyond what a child should

13:28

exhibit. I mean, I think it's very abstract

13:31

stuff. At the end of the day, children or children,

13:33

if you're under the age of eighteen, you can't contract

13:36

to do anything with your life. You need a parent's consent.

13:38

But yet when it comes to the criminal justice system,

13:41

they completely ignore this element

13:43

when it comes to the mental state or the

13:45

men's raya of a of a young child. So

13:47

as a broad principle, I mean, it's well settled

13:50

that, you know, children can be tried

13:52

as adults in certain context,

13:54

but practically speaking, I

13:57

think this policy should be eradicated

13:59

from society. I mean, you know, also you have

14:01

to look at the legacy of racism when it

14:03

comes to trying children as adults. I mean it comes

14:06

from this notion of typically back in Jim

14:08

Crow era, in which the criminal justice system

14:11

endeavored to try young black men as adults

14:13

to answer for crimes in a very serious

14:15

way that provided retribution or

14:17

some type of blood lust. One of the cases

14:20

that haunts me is the case of George Stinny

14:22

Jr. Right, George Stinney Jr. Of

14:24

course, he was found innocent years and

14:26

years later. In nineteen forty four,

14:29

was a fourteen year old boy who

14:31

was charged with murdering two little

14:34

white girls. His trial took

14:36

two hours, the jury deliberated for ten minutes.

14:38

That he was executed. He had to sit on a fucking

14:40

telephone book because he was so small in

14:43

order for them to even electrocute him. And

14:45

of course he has been exonerated. But a

14:47

lot of good that does. So that goes

14:49

right back to your point. That's the that's the

14:51

grotesque history of treating children

14:54

like adults in our criminal

14:57

legal system. There's no other place

14:59

in society where a sixteen year old is considered

15:01

an adult. The fact that we have a young child

15:04

who was a victim of sex trafficking

15:07

now possibly being exposed to life

15:09

in prison. I just don't understand why

15:12

that's the policy here. I don't understand

15:14

why Dallas County is pursuing this. You know,

15:16

We had public defenders at the very beginning

15:18

of this case and they told us she's

15:20

not being certified as an adult. She

15:22

is certified as a juvenile. So fast

15:25

forward a year. How do you determine

15:27

someone was a child

15:30

then and an adult then? And

15:32

no one has been able to answer that for me.

15:35

If you're sixteen, you're sixteen, you're a child.

15:38

How do you say she's an adult. I

15:41

don't understand that you want to certify

15:43

a child sex trafficking victim as

15:45

an adult. It's almost perverted in a way. It's

15:47

almost you're saying that, no, she was

15:49

actually voluntarily selling

15:52

herself for sex. And we know

15:54

as children you came and enter a contract for

15:56

anything at a at that age. So I

15:58

don't want to sound like a broken record, but

16:01

no child can enter into a contract, especially

16:03

a sex contract, But certifying

16:05

them as an adult kind of counteracts that well

16:08

settled legal principle. Where

16:23

are we now and what can people

16:25

do about it? I think people can join in the advocacy

16:28

that you have been doing. An other folks, other

16:30

thought leaders in the space, have been joining in

16:32

on getting the word out and lifting

16:34

our voices and showing the powers that

16:37

be here in Dallas County that this isn't right is

16:39

going to be a very important element of

16:41

assisting Zeffie in overcoming these

16:43

charges. To donate to the legal defense,

16:46

go to directly to dot

16:48

org. There's also a petition that you can sign

16:51

on change dot org. And there's a form

16:53

letter to the d A that you can sign on

16:55

Action network dot org. And of course

16:57

follow the hashtag free is

16:59

that on Instagram you can also get

17:02

updates from me at It's Jason

17:04

Flam. That's my Instagram at It's Jason

17:06

Flam. Will have all of these

17:08

action steps linked in the bio pressure

17:11

breaks pipes and Jason, thank you

17:13

for everything that you've done. We really really

17:15

appreciate this interview. We appreciate

17:18

the support, you know, Selena Gomez,

17:20

Kim Kardashian, Cintoyo Brown,

17:23

who herself has gone through a

17:25

tremendous story of her own,

17:27

everyone that has supported

17:30

Zeffie um since they've heard this story.

17:32

There are many other victims that are out there.

17:35

They need a voice, they need help. Every

17:37

voice, every post, Instagram,

17:40

letter, written, phone call, all of

17:42

those things help not only Zephania

17:45

but the legal system kind of take a

17:47

closer look at what's happening,

17:50

especially here in Texas, and

17:52

to help the d A recognize

17:54

the truth of this case. It's almost

17:56

like we're so ashamed as a country

17:59

that this actually goes on that

18:02

we don't even talk about it. And

18:04

I'm glad you mentioned Cintoya Lisa

18:06

Montgomery. Of course, there's a wonderful

18:08

story the flip side of a woman named

18:10

Tara Simmons, a dear friend of mine who was

18:12

sex trafficked as a young teenage

18:15

girl, was in prison and now has ended

18:17

up graduating at the top of a class from the

18:19

University of Washington law School and is now

18:21

an elected representative in the state

18:23

of Washington. And I'm so freaking proud

18:25

of her, and I hope that the future is gonna

18:28

look, you know, as bright for Zeffie, and

18:30

that she's gonna get through this. Hopefully

18:32

the attorney will drop the charges

18:35

and basically acknowledged that this

18:37

was a mistake. So now we

18:39

turned to the closing of

18:41

our show, which is I think the

18:43

best part every week. It's my favorite

18:45

part. It's a part we call closing

18:48

arguments. First of all, I thank

18:50

each of you. Justin Moore, Defense

18:52

Attorney and Social Justice advocate,

18:55

thank you for being here. And Crystal

18:57

Trevino, thank you for you know, showing

19:00

us all what courage looks like. And

19:02

and now I get to turn my microphone off

19:05

and we my headphones on and just listen

19:07

as each of you can share your

19:09

thoughts on anything you want

19:11

to share your thoughts on, and Justin

19:13

let's have you go first, if that's okay,

19:16

and save Crystal for a last

19:19

thank you Jackson. I mean, in conclusion,

19:21

I think this case is

19:24

the canary in the cave. Sex

19:26

trafficking is pervasive throughout our society,

19:29

and sex trafficking including miners

19:32

is equally pervasive. If

19:34

you want to put it into this, we have to start

19:37

with the criminal justice system and how it treats

19:39

victims that are placed in

19:41

these precarious positions. The

19:44

criminal justice system endeavors not to acknowledge

19:46

that victimhood. We're going to further stigmatize

19:49

these folks who are involved and ensnared

19:51

in these trauma bonds with these traffickers,

19:54

and we're not going to empower them to step

19:56

up and speak out about the abuse

19:59

that they are a part of. So

20:01

we need people to advocate for a criminal

20:03

justice system that has compassion

20:06

but also nuanced when it looks at

20:08

sex trafficking victims. Until

20:10

we have that, this is going to continue to be an

20:12

issue and we need to start

20:14

protecting folks who can't protect themselves.

20:17

Crystal, Well, again,

20:19

thank you for giving us this opportunity

20:21

to speak. Dallas County. The

20:23

legal system in general has not even

20:26

acknowledged that my child

20:28

was a victim, and she continues

20:30

to be victimized. Sex

20:33

trafficking doesn't look like what

20:35

we all have in our head or what we've

20:37

been told or what's been on the news. Yes,

20:40

those are very real situations,

20:43

but sex trafficking can

20:45

be the young adult next door,

20:47

most victims in any

20:50

situation of abuse, or people that

20:52

you know and people that you have come to trust.

20:55

I ask that there be some

20:57

resources for parents when this

20:59

is all that and done to help

21:02

recognize signs,

21:05

because it is heartbreaking and it is every

21:08

much a part of our life from here

21:10

on out. I've said this before

21:13

that this is the battle before us right

21:15

now to get her free. But

21:17

we will continue to battle and will continue

21:20

to heal from every aspect

21:22

of this, from the law, from

21:25

her being in juvenile, from her being victimized,

21:27

for her being sex trafficked and sexually

21:29

abused. Thank you for saying

21:32

we're courageous, but I'll be honest,

21:34

it is truly by our

21:36

faith and God that has held us and

21:39

has kept us. My

21:41

prayer would be that the legal

21:43

system recognized my daughter

21:46

as a sex traffic victim and they

21:49

change the law because

21:51

she's not the only one I know that. I

21:54

know there are other young women and

21:57

probably men that have gone

21:59

through this. And when a sex

22:01

traffic victim or victim in general

22:03

speaks out and

22:06

you do nothing, you're

22:09

literally saying they don't matter. Everyone,

22:13

please keep us in prayer, Um,

22:16

pray for the d A

22:18

to open his eyes and recognize and

22:20

do something about it and dropped

22:23

this case. Don't

22:30

forget to give us a fantastic review wherever

22:32

you get your podcasts. It really helps.

22:34

And I'm a proud donor to the Innocence

22:37

Project and I really hope you'll join me in

22:39

supporting this very important cause

22:41

and helping to prevent future wrongful

22:43

convictions. Go to Innocence Project

22:45

dot org to learn how to donate and get

22:47

involved. I'd like to thank our production

22:50

team, Connor Hall and Kevin wardis

22:52

the music on the show. Is by three time OSCAR

22:54

nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be

22:56

sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful

22:59

Conviction and on Facebook at Wrongful

23:01

Conviction podcast. Wrongful Conviction

23:03

with Jason Flam is a production of Lava

23:06

for Good Podcasts and association with

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Signal Company Number one