Alicia Sanchez Calderon (Collin County Sheriff’s Office)
A 37-year-old woman in Texas will likely spend the rest of her life behind bars for tricking a then-24-year-old woman into living with her and her family, only to take her captive and subject her to “sadistic torture” that included burning her body with boiling water, starving her, and locking her in a cage, and cutting off her communication with others.
District Court Judge George B. Flint on Tuesday ordered Alicia Sanchez Calderon to serve a sentence of 75 years in a state correctional facility for her “unthinkable” treatment of the victim, authorities announced.
“Calderon tricked the victim into living with her and then controlled her with unthinkable torture. She severely burned the victim’s arms, chest, and back by pouring a pot of boiling water on her,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said in a statement following the sentencing hearing. “She also deprived her of food, locked her in a dog crate, and cut off her communication to the outside world. We hope and pray this jury’s sentence will allow the victim to further heal from all the deep physical and emotional wounds inflicted by this defendant.”
A jury previously found Calderon guilty on one count of first-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury to a household member.
According to a press release from the Collin County District Attorney’s Office, the victim moved into the trailer Calderon shared with her family in 2019. Calderon and the victim reached an agreement in which the victim would clean the house, care for Calderon’s children, and take care of a disabled elderly woman. In exchange, the victim would be allowed to live with Calderon and her family free of charge.
The agreement worked well for a few months but then deteriorated.
“Calderon began to mistreat the victim, first by taking away her phone, then later by restricting her food and her movements in and out of the trailer,” the release states. “Calderon began locking the victim in the room with the elderly woman whose condition had severely declined. The victim lost over half of her body weight until she no longer had the strength to take care of the elderly woman.”
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The situation got worse. In July 2021, when Calderon caught the emaciated victim sneaking food to eat, she became particularly vindictive.
“As punishment, she locked the victim in a dog crate and poured boiling water on her, injuring her legs,” prosecutors wrote. “Later that year, during an argument, Calderon poured a pot of boiling water on the victim, giving her severe burns on her arms, chest and back. Calderon did not let the victim get medical treatment.”
The victim managed to borrow a phone in February 2022 from a child in the home and send a message to her stepfather — the first time she had been able to speak to either of her parents in two years — saying she was locked in a room against her will and needed help.
The stepfather called 911 and went to the trailer where the victim was being held. County deputies responded to the location and “removed stacks of stones away from the door in order for the victim to escape.”
“The victim was down to [weighing] 68 pounds, her head had been shaved, and her body was covered in second and third-degree burns,” according to the release. “At trial, the victim’s burn doctor testified to the extent of her injuries. The victim underwent multiple surgeries, including skin grafts to recover from her severe burns. The victim spent six weeks in the hospital recovering from her injuries and malnourishment.”
Prosecutors also presented evidence during the punishment phase of the trial showing that Calderon spent $78,000 of her elderly relative’s recently received inheritance within three months of it being received and had spent years spending the woman’s social security checks on, among other things, tattoos, new rims for her car, and a party rental business.
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