Actor Jamie Lee Curtis wrote an open letter requesting a Texas District Attorney to drop murder charges against a teenager in a murder case. The teen in question is reportedly a survivor of sex trafficking. 17-year-old Zephaniah Trevino is facing charges of capital murder and is one of three accused in the killing of 24-year-old Carlos Arajeni-Arriaza Morillo last year.
Trevino was just 16 when the incident took place and her mother and advocates argued that "she’s a sex trafficking victim, not a killer." It was reported by KRQE that despite not pulling the trigger, a murder case against Trevino was lodged since she is accused of being part of a "robbery that went wrong."
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What did Jamie Lee Curtis say?
In an open letter shared on Sunday, the 62-year-old actor asked, "How is it possible that a 16-year-old girl, a victim of sex trafficking... could be held accountable for the crime?"
She urged Dallas County’s district attorney, John Creuzot, to drop the charges against Trevino. "I'm an actress, author and advocate for children, but most important of all, I'm a mother," she wrote, adding, "How is it possible that a 16-year-old girl, a victim of sex trafficking and sexual violence who was an innocent bystander in a crime, could possibly be held accountable for that crime? That is the brutal truth happening to Zephi Trevino today. The Dallas district attorney plans to try this teen sex trafficking victim as an adult when she is still just a child. Hearing her story pierced my mother's heart and I am writing this as a way to help Zephi's own mother, Crystal, fight to free her daughter."
Curtis further added, "As a mother of two children, I am outraged. Our criminal justice system must be better than this. All the DA has to do is drop the charges against this innocent girl. She didn't hold a gun. She didn't create the scenario. She was being sold for sex. And now, after being abused and victimized by her trafficker, she's being victimized again — this time by the legal system that should be protecting her."
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Earlier, Kim Kardashian had also extended support to the 17-year-old and tweeted, "Please sign this petition to show support for the innocence of Zephaniah Trevino."
The trial is scheduled for January and Trevino could face 10 years in jail if found guilty.
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