Grieving father looks for answers As illegal immigrant stands trial in fatal stabbing, victim's dad wants to know why authorities didn't detain suspec

Danny Bridges stood near the back of the courtroom before the opening of the murder trial, glowering at the man accused of stabbing his daughter 11 times. “I didn’t want to see him again,” Bridges said Tuesday, staring at Jeremias Fuentes, who is accused of killing 22-year-old Katherine Ann Bridges on Nov. 25, 2007. Outside the courtroom, Bridges said the law enforcement system had failed his “special little girl,” born with severe birth defects that left her deaf and with facial deformities. According to court records, Fuentes was first arrested for beating Bridges in 2004, when she was 19. Arrested in August 2007 for interfering with case workers trying to interview her father about abuse allegations, Fuentes told Harris County jailers that he was in the country illegally, records show. But immigration officials did not file paperwork to detain Fuentes until after the slaying, records show. Bridges said he still can’t understand it. “This guy is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, and no one ever did anything about it,” Bridges said. “They didn’t care. That’s what amazes me most.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said removing convicted criminals is a top priority. ICE has significantly stepped up screening in Harris County’s jails since the Houston Chronicle last fall investigated how Fuentes and dozens of other illegal immigrants managed to avoid deportation. Jeremias Fuentes was treated for three knife wounds, which prosecutors suggest were self-inflicted. He told detectives he acted in self-defense. When Bridges, 53, took the stand, he described raising Katherine as single father, and sitting through surgery after surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital. The prosecutor asked Bridges if he knew how many surgeries Katherine had. He started to list them: The shunt to reduce the fluid on her brain, the facial reconstruction. “I couldn’t add all of them up.” He said Katherine moved out shortly after she became pregnant, and lived with Fuentes’ family until the couple got their own place. The prosecutor then asked Bridges to identify her in a morgue photograph. He said, yes, it was his daughter. And then he started to cry. “I didn’t know it would be that difficult,” Bridges said as he picked up his coat to leave the courtroom.