No report taken in attack before murder

AUSTIN (KXAN) - An apparent gap in communication may have cost the Austin Police Department critical time in tracking down a suspect who took the life of an Austin teacher aide and music mentor on Sunday morning.

Details have emerged about a frantic call placed to APD about a woman who reported being attacked in the same area where Esmeralda "Esme" Barrera, 29, was killed early on New Year's Day.

At 2:18 a.m. on Jan. 1, a 21-year-old-woman called Austin police to report that a man attacked her in front of a house on King Street. The same home would become a homicide scene 31 minutes later when the body of Barerra was found there.

The assault victim explained in an exclusive interview with KXAN News early on Sunday the details of what happened to her, and also details of her verbal report to APD.

"I was walking home from a birthday party and I noticed a man was following me," she said, "so I stopped at a house where there were people outside, just chatted with them for a bit and waited for him to pass [before I started walking]. Suddenly, he was behind me, grabbed me, wrestled me to the ground, hit my head against the ground and I screamed really loud, and he ran off and then I got help."

The victim said the people who heard her screaming came to her and called police.

"They (police) didn't actually take a report," the assault victim said, explaining that the officer did not write down anything in her presence. "I reported it and he said he was going to check around the neighborhood but he probably wasn't going to find him."

This woman -- who isn't sharing her identity out of concerns for her own safety -- sustained a bump on her forehead and scratches in the attack. Though she spoke with an Austin police officer, department protocol does not require that the officer file a written report -- only talk to the victim and search the area.

Austin Police Monitor Margo Frasier said on Wednesday that when an assault happens, police should file a report immediately, especially in cases like this where the victim did not know her attacker.

"I'd be surprised to hear there had not been a report," Frasier said, "and I trust the police department will look into if the call was handled appropriately, and if not, begin an administrative inquiry."

All incident reports are put on APD's crime tracking website for the public to see -- except the assault victim's report wasn't posted online until 3 p.m. on New Year's Day. That posted time is after KXAN brought the assault victim's case to the attention of homicide investigators on Sunday, who were collecting evidence on Barrera's homicide.

APD confirmed the 3 p.m. report was the only report taken -- more than 12 hours after the assault on the woman. In the report, the 21-year-old woman gave police the description of her attacker.

"He was a tall black male, I think with a shaved head," she said.

On Monday, APD released a sketch of the attacker whom they are now calling a "person of interest" in Barrera's death -- it is the same description the assault victim gave police of the man who attacked her.

Police now believe the crimes could be related and the man in the sketch is also responsible for a third attack that occurred around 5 a.m. in the same area, the 300 block of East 31st St. While police have not released much information about the third incident, it happened after Barrera was killed and the suspect fled the home, according to APD.