‘Please help me’: Woman consulted psychic, was afraid of boyfriend the day before her death: docs

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Terrified by her boyfriend’s behavior, Crystal Acevedo got in touch with a psychic who’d previously performed readings for her.

She told the medium her boyfriend, Ricardo Valles Jr., got drunk that night and talked about wanting to kill a family member. She was “super scared” and had left Valles at a motel and returned to her apartment.

“Please help,” Acevedo said. “I don’t know what to do.”

The medium advised her to leave him.

“Yes I left but he going to make it hard for me watch, I’ll keep up updated,” Acevedo wrote according to the exchange contained in newly-released court documents.

The following day, Acevedo’s brother went to her apartment and found her unresponsive and slumped in a chair, with “intense red swelling” to her face and temple, documents said. Valles, 40, was there; he denied harming her.

Taken to Kern Medical and placed in an induced coma, Acevedo, 36, died four days later.

Valles — he goes by “Puppet” — is charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is due in court Thursday.

Investigators first contacted Valles Aug. 4 when called to Acevedo’s apartment by her brother.

Police noted her facial injuries and how she appeared disoriented and couldn’t hold her head up, according to the documents. Vomit was on the floor by her chair.

Valles told police he and Acevedo, his girlfriend of two months, had planned to stay at a motel but she went home and he went to his sister’s place. He said Acevedo later called him to come over and watch movies.

He noticed the injuries to her face, Valles told police, but she wouldn’t tell him what had happened. He said she was talking until her brother showed up.

Police said Valles repeatedly denied assaulting Acevedo. He gave inconsistent statements as to when he arrived at the apartment and how Acevedo communicated with him to come over.

Valles had no defensive injuries, Acevedo wasn’t able to provide a statement and there were no witnesses. Police released Valles at the scene and continued to investigate.

They gathered a lot more evidence over the next four days.

The psychic came forward and provided a statement.

Possible blood spatter was found on the inside of Acevedo’s bathroom door, documents said. A container of bleach was on the sink and a mop on the floor. Application of a blood enhancement reagent resulted in a positive reaction on the sink, door and floor — meaning there was a high probability blood was present.

Acevedo’s brother said his sister appeared “disheveled” when he saw her after she left Valles at the motel, according to the documents. He said she told him she and Valles “got into it” and that Valles had been drinking.

There were no injuries to her face when he saw her, the brother told police. He left, returning hours later after he couldn’t reach her. That’s when he saw her injuries and confronted Valles in the apartment, he said.

The brother later told police he accessed his sister’s Facebook Messenger app and reached out to Valles while pretending to be Acevedo. He shared the messages with police.

Valles admits pushing her and also says she fell out of a chair, the messages say according to the documents.

“I’m sorry I should of gave u CPR u stopped breathing,” one message reads.

“Babe u hit ur head gods my witness,” says another.

Valles asks for forgiveness and says he made a mistake, according to the documents.

Police viewed surveillance footage from the motel showing Acevedo leave and Valles stay behind. He kicks a motel room door before entering, documents said. He left about an hour later.

Surveillance video from Acevedo’s apartment about three hours later shows Valles arrive wearing the same clothing from the motel.

“Valles appeared extremely agitated and began kicking the front door of the apartment,” an investigator wrote according to the documents.

The video skips — it doesn’t show how Valles got inside.

Acevedo died early Aug. 8. Coroner’s officials said her injuries “were not consistent with a fall as Valles claimed, and the preliminary cause of death appeared to be blunt force trauma to the head,” according to the documents.

Armed with the new evidence, police arrested Valles on Aug. 8. He tried to run after being handcuffed but was quickly caught, documents said.

Police searched Valles’ bedroom and seized jeans and other clothing matching those worn by him on the surveillance video. The jeans had possible dried blood on them, documents said.

Victims of domestic violence can get help by calling the Open Door Network’s 24-Hour Crisis Hotline at 661-327-1091 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE. More resources can be found here .

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