Police: Woman captive for four days, blood drawn for witchcraft ritual

James Pete A. Cerda

James Pete A. Cerda Photo: / Photo: / Image 1 of / 105 Caption Close Police: Woman captive for four days, blood drawn for witchcraft ritual 1 / 105 Back to Gallery

A woman claims she was kidnapped and a blood ritual was performed on her to gain information about her boyfriend, who was abducted, stabbed, beaten and possibly tortured, officials said.

Three people face charges in the alleged abduction. A fourth suspect, the sister of Angel Salazar, 28, whose body was found Aug. 18, is being sought.

James Pete A. Cerda, 19, Teanna San Nicolas, 24, and Tristan Smith, 26, each face a charge in the aggravated kidnapping of the woman said to be Salazar’s girlfriend, according to information from an arrest warrant affidavit and the Bexar County Central Records Office.

Cerda and Smith were arrested Thursday; San Nicolas was arrested Wednesday.

The kidnapping of Salazar’s girlfriend occurred days after she moved into a far West Side home with Cerda at the end of August, the warrant states.

On Sept. 5, as the woman was using her phone at the home, Cerda walked up to her, slapped her and took her phone away, and then zip-tied her hands and ankles, according to the warrant.

That’s when San Nicolas called Salazar’s sister, who has not been arrested, to notify her they had the girlfriend.

In the meantime, she was forcibly given two pills, one yellow and the other white, which rendered her unconscious, the warrant said.

When she woke up, she was face-to-face with Salazar’s sister, who accused her of having something to do with Salazar’s death, investigators said.

After that, she blacked out again, awakening some time later inside a black Toyota Tundra, she told detectives. She was still restrained.

As they were driving, the group including Cerda, San Nicolas and Salazar’s sister went to a parking lot at Pleasanton and Military Drive, attempting to score drugs, the warrant states.

The abducted woman vomited as they waited, with Cerda saying “there goes the brown,” leading her to believe she was injected with heroin, the affidavit states.

After that, she blacked out once again. The next time she awoke was back at the house and tied to a chair. Again they drove Cerda to an unknown place, the woman told police.

Once back at the house, the woman was hog-tied, her mouth taped, and placed on her bed, investigators said.

The woman told police she lost track of the time and days as they were at the home, but one day, Smith arrived at the home and helped Salazar’s sister zip-tie her to a chair.

The abducted woman, recalling that the two believed in some type of witchcraft, watched them begin a ritual on her. Smith cut off some of her hair, the warrant states, as her finger and palm were cut because Smith needed blood for the ritual.

The warrant states the ritual was performed because Salazar’s sister wanted to know if the woman had anything to with the death of her brother. SAPD spokesperson officer Douglas Greene said last month Salazar was apparently beaten, stabbed and possibly tortured.

Early Wednesday, San Nicolas tied the abducted woman to a chair yet again. Salazar’s sister told San Nicolas to keep an eye on her as she left the residence. San Nicolas, who had been injected herself methamphetamine, told the woman not to move as she passed out on a bed, according to the affidavit.

The abducted woman realized the zip-ties were loose enough for her to free her hand, the affidavit said. She retrieved her phone, which was left on a nearby table, called several people for help and determined her address with the phone as the sheriff’s office was called.

When authorities arrived in the 11000 block of Bluff Canyon, they knocked but heard nothing for several minutes, until a woman began screaming, the warrant states.

The deputies forced their way in through a door in the back of the home and discovered the woman and San Nicolas at the top of the second floor stairs, with San Nicolas holding a pair of scissors, the warrant states. San Nicolas was taken into custody at the scene.

Sheriff’s spokesman James Keith said they are glad they could get to the house and find the woman before any more harm was done.

“It was our belief that had we not arrived when we did, the outcome could have been much worse,” Keith said.

Records indicate Smith and Cerda were arrested Thursday, with Cerda’s bail set at $75,000.

Salazar's body was discovered after neighbors noticed a smell coming from an abandoned apartment complex in the 4300 block of South Flores Street.

jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA