By Anna Olsen and Lamiya Gulamhusein
ALAMEDA, CA – The mother of a minor who is the alleged victim of a sexual assault crime spoke during a Monday morning jury trial here in Alameda County Superior Court.
Demarco Robert Ayers was charged with committing multiple felony sex crimes involving minors from 2017 through 2020. He entered a plea of not guilty.
Defense Attorney (first name not available) Romero extensively questioned the mother of Ayer’s alleged victim during trial regarding her knowledge of the assault.
According to Romero, the victim had told the Oakland police during questioning that Ayers had “touched her” private parts.
Romero asked the witness to clarify how she felt initially after reading this police report and learning about what had happened to her daughter.
“You didn’t believe it, right?” questioned Romero.
“It’s not that I didn’t believe it,” the witness responded. “I was praying it wasn’t true.”
She had told the police that she had never left the suspect in the room alone with her daughter and that he was never affectionate with her.
Romero questioned the witness regarding a previous statement she made to police that she “had never seen anything suspicious” or noticed any warning signs from Ayers.
“When it came to disciplining your kids, that was your role,” Romero stated. “You never saw Demarco spank your daughter?”
“Once,” the witness stated, claiming that Ayers would discipline her daughter by tapping her head with his finger if she got her homework wrong.
Additionally, the witness stated that Demarco had always been “more strict” with her daughter than her son.
She claimed that “he wasn’t mean but he was more…I don’t know how to explain it.”
Romero expressed confusion regarding how incidents like these weren’t at the forefront of her mind when reading the police report.
Additionally, the trial centered heavily around porn that had been found on the tablet of the victim by her mother.
Romero addressed the witness regarding what occurred when she initially found the porn on her daughter’s tablet.
“You acknowledged that you were angry and hit her with a chancla and she was upset and crying,” Romero stated. “Did it appear to you that she was upset because she thought she was in trouble?”
“Yes,” the witness responded.
“And you asked her who taught you about this. Was it Demarco? And she said yes?”
The witness confirmed this to be true.
In the middle of the session the witness began to cry, asking tearfully, “Can I take a break?”
“Just take a minute ok. Take a minute, take a breath,” responded Judge Amy Sekany.
If convicted, Ayers could serve a maximum sentence of 16 years in state prison.
The trial is set to reconvene Tuesday morning.
