SAN ANTONIO —
The trial has begun for Anton Harris. The 20-year-old is accused of targeting, assaulting and robbing several women in San Antonio's Medical Center.
Harris was arrested in June of 2017. Police obtained a DNA match that identified him as a suspect in the six cases that unfolded between June of 2016 and May of 2017.
A handful of witnesses took the stand on Wednesday, including one victim's neighbor.
Gilbert Mendez and his family lived at Mission Ranch apartments in the Medical Center in 2017.
Mendez said one night in May, he heard a loud scream. Then, he heard banging at his front door. His neighbor, a young woman who lived alone, was desperate for help. She told him she had been assaulted.
"She was very scared, she was very red. She was crying, distraught,” Mendez said.
Mendez and his wife brought her inside and called 911. The phone call was played as evidence during the trial.
"She said that there was a black male that I guess raped her, or something like that, that's what she said," Mendez told the operator.
At one point, Mendez passes the phone to the victim so she can explain what happened.
She described the suspect to the operator. She told him she had never seen the suspect before.
She got a quick look at him, telling the operator the suspect threw a blanket over her head during the attack.
She began to cry again, making the rest of the call tough to understand.
Harris entered a guilty plea last July, but the judge denied it. He's facing 5 to 99 years or life in prison.
The trial continues on Friday. Court will be closed on Thursday for Bexar County District Judge Ray Olivarri's funeral. He died last week from cancer.
A visitation and rosary will be held on Jan. 22 at 7pm at San Fernando Cathedral. The funeral begins at 11 a.m. Thursday morning.