An ex-relative of Franco Ochoa, one of the suspects arrested in connection with the Bakersfield woman attacked with a machete and left for dead, spoke to 23ABC Tuesday night.
"He [Ochoa] was always in and out of our lives because he was in prison, or on drugs and he just stayed away," the woman said in a phone interview.
She said when she saw headlines about Ochoa's arrest, she was surprised that he wasn't still in jail.
"It was just crazy, the fact that he did that, tortured a girl. But it's not surprising to see him go to prison," she said.
Court documents detail machete, torture attack
Kyra Oliver lives next door to the victim in East Bakersfield and was the one who called police about her injuries. She said she's still shaken up from seeing her badly beaten and with severed fingers.
"It really took a toll on me, seeing my neighbor like that and knowing it happened so close," Oliver said.
Ochoa's wife, Amalia Lopez, was also arrested in connection with this case. They're facing charges of attempted murder, torture, aggravated mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and arson.
