#SheWas16

Texas Teen Indicted for Murder—But Celeb Backers Say She Was Being Trafficked

Zephi Trevino has been charged in the 2019 shooting of Carlos Morillo. Her supporters say she was a victim, used as bait to lure Morillo and another man for a robbery.

A Texas teen has been indicted for murder over her part in a 2019 robbery and shooting, but supporters say she was a victim of sex trafficking and shouldn’t be charged. Cops say that Philipp Aguilera Baldenegro and Jesse Martinez, both 18 at the time, lured victim Carlos Morillo and another man to an apartment in Grand Prairie, with the promise of sex with 16-year-old Zephi Trevino, in order to rob them. However, a struggle ensued and Morillo was fatally shot. Trevino’s family and attorneys say that she was exploited. She is being “victimized by the legal system,” her mom, Crystal Trevino, said. But, lawyers for Baldenegro and Martinez dispute the sex trafficking claim. An attorney for Aguila also called it a “smokescreen” and claimed Trevino was the mastermind behind the robbery. Celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis and Kim Kardashian West have thrown their support behind Trevino, and #shewas16 trended on Twitter.