When the phone rang on June 1, 2024, the last thing Kayla De La Cruz expected to hear was a gun firing. On the other line was her cousin, Erica Torres, and it was immediately clear that something was wrong. Moments after answering the phone De La Cruz heard gunshots on the other line, shots she believes were fired by Erica’s ex-husband, Billy Delgado.

De La Cruz, a trauma nurse practitioner, recounted the harrowing moment during emotional testimony at Delgado’s attempted murder trial, which began July 28. Delgado is accused of firing ten shots at Torres, striking her five times, before she crashed her vehicle several blocks from his residence in Laredo, Texas.

“I was shocked,” De La Cruz told the jury. “She was screaming in pain… and then the call dropped. When I called her back, she said, ‘Billy shot me.’”

De La Cruz’s account adds a deeply personal layer to a case already marked by graphic evidence and painful family dynamics. As a medical professional and one of the first people to hear Torres after the shooting, De La Cruz is considered a key outcry witness.

During her testimony, De La Cruz explained that she and Torres ate breakfast together the morning of the attack. During their breafast Torres received a call from her daughter, Esmeralda “Emi” Delgado, who was staying with Billy. According to De La Cruz, Torres had agreed to pick Emi up the next day, but after the call she ended their meal early to pick up her daughter from Delgado’s residence.

De La Cruz recounted how she received a missed call and a confusing text from Torres shortly afterward. “She said she was lost and didn’t understand why she needed to pick up her daughter early,” she said.

On a follow-up call, De La Cruz remained on the line with Torres as she arrived at Delgado’s home. Then came the gunfire. “I heard six shots. She screamed… and the line went dead,” De La Cruz said.

Panicked, she called 911 while trying to track her cousin’s location using “Find My iPhone.” By the time she reached the crash site at the intersection of Clark and Arkansas, Torres was slumped over in the driver’s seat of her green Kia Soul. A bystander was holding her neck, unaware of her gunshot wounds.

“I told him, ‘She’s been shot.’ He didn’t believe me,” De La Cruz said. As EMTs arrived, she informed them of Torres’s injuries, her full code status, and authorized intubation and blood transfusion. “She needed surgery immediately,” she added.

De La Cruz has been a trauma nurse since 2018. She told the jury she was fully aware of the severity of her cousin’s condition. “Only God could do a miracle,” she said, holding back tears. “I prayed and followed the ambulance to the hospital.”

Delgado was arrested at his home shortly after the shooting. Body camera footage shows him surrendering with his hands up. He has remained largely silent during trial proceedings, while the court has heard from multiple witnesses including police officers, his roommate, and now, Erica Torres’s cousin.

The trial continues this week, with a verdict expected soon from visiting Judge Sid Harle.