JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Esperanza Delgado is in hiding from her former partner, Jefferey Cruz. The pair started dating when she was 17, nearly two months later she was pregnant.
“When I hear his name, it puts a different type of fear in me," Delgado said. “There were days he would keep me in the house at gun point.”
She says when they met, it was like every young love, but then things changed, saying the violence got worse, and worse, and worse.
“I was really young and in love, and then it took a turn for the worse," she said. “Like almost being with a sociopath.”
According to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s office Cruz's rap sheet is lengthy.
The Jefferson Parish DA reports that in 2008, he was booked with a string of charges, including domestic abuse by strangulation, simple kidnapping and making threatening phone calls. He eventually pleaded guilty to domestic abuse battery and was sentenced to six-months in jail.
After serving that term, court documents show he stole Esperanza’s car and led police on a chase, then resisted arrest. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
In 2010, according to court documents, his violence escalated. Cruz grabbed his baby away from Esperanza, the documents read, he “grabbed her right arm and began squeezing. He then said he would choke and kill her," again getting a six-month sentence.
Six more months were added to that sentence for violating the protective order by calling Esperanza while behind bars in the Jefferson Parish Jail.
In August of 2011, his violence hit an all-time high. The sheriff’s office said he followed her from the store, chased her down, rammed her car and then shot at her with her baby in the backseat. He was sentenced to 10-years in prison.
Later that year, court documents say “he sent an envelope containing cards and a picture” to Esperanza while he was incarcerated, violating the protective order yet again.
Then in 2014, he escaped from LaSalle Correctional Center, another four years were added to his sentence.
“You’re letting a prisoner that escaped your prison out on good time, good behavior," Esparanza said.
Jeffery Cruz was released from prison this week. The Department of Corrections telling us he got out three years early on good behavior, earning 75 days of goodtime credit for courses he completed while inside. Serving 11 years, two months, and ten days in prison, he's now out on parole till 2025.
"I know for a fact he’s not rehabilitated because of the things he’s done while in prison," Esparanza said.
She and her two daughters packed up their lives up and fled.
“I walked away from a mortgage that I’ve paid almost $40,000, I’ve worked my butt off for my babies," she said. “Its not fair. A little bit of the freedom I had left was stolen and given to him.”
Perpetrators are deemed high risk if they’ve tried to strangle someone, if they’ve got a child with the victim, have access to guns, have stalked their partner or continually try to communicate with them.
Esperanza said he always had guns around, he also followed her from the store and he broke the protective order by contacting her.
Mary Claire Landry from the New Orleans Family Justice Center says a victim should always have a voice in whether her abuser gets out early. Delgado says her fears were never heard.
“All of those factors should’ve been evaluated and researched before any consideration for him to be discharged from his sentence," Landry said. “If she felt she had to leave and get out of the state then that’s a clear indication that she still fears for her life and he’s still a threat to her. That should have all been in the consideration for either reducing his time or letting him out early.”
Delgado says she now suffers from PTSD, and the wounds Jeffery Cruz inflicted are being ripped open again.
“That hard to breathe, panic attack feeling, just thinking about the fact he’s roaming free," she said.
Delgado has a GoFundMe to help with expenses after fleeing violence.
If you are experiencing domestic violence you can call the New Orleans Family Justice Center at 504-866-9554.
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