Mexican Los Angeles

In my literature review of Vicki Ruiz's Unequal Sisters: An Inclusive Reader in US Women’s History, 4th Edition Chapter 7 I found very appealing referring to a case where a Mexican woman kills her Indian servant. The chapter goes in to detail about the case informing the reader about the individual testimonies of individuals around the household. While Guadalupe Trujillo claims that the stabbing was in self-defense she also claims that it was an accident therefore contradicting herself almost in the same sentence while testifying. She claimed that she seen the Indian servant, Ysabel as a sister. However, all the testimonies from the other individuals pointed toward the fact that this wasn’t self-defense but instead it was premeditated murder. The belief among those that testified was that Guadalupe Trujillo had finally grown tired of Ysabel’s behavior and killed her. The chapter continues on with the different testimonies and finally ends with her sentencing of three years. She was sentenced with banishment which was almost like a death sentence then. Soon after an appellate court decided that it was too harsh of a punishment and sentenced her to one year in San Diego. Guadalupe Trujillo ended up serving one year of her sentence before she was released by an unknown court back to her family. Her social status and life was hardly effected by what had happened.

#usa #Trujillo #IndianServent