CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — NOTE: This page will be updated throughout the day.
10:30 a.m. — Maya’s sister-in-law took the stand again, as the defense questioned her on dozens of text messages sent between her and Larry.
Genesis Nicolas-Tabalanza got visibly frustrated with defense attorney Colby Ryan and asked, “How many more pages are we going to go through?”
She said, “I’m sorry, your honor. It’s just too much.”
Judge Enrique Camarena told her this was the process as the questioning continued.
This is Nicholas-Tabalanza’s third day on the stand. The defense showed the jury multiple pages of text messages, showing how much she communicated with Larry in 2020.
She repeatedly told Ryan, “She’s checked out,” when referring to Maya’s state of mind.
Nicholas-Tabalanza testified that she believed Larry wasn’t giving Maya the space she needed.
In one text message exchange, Larry texted Nicholas-Tabalanza about Maya’s visit to Walmart.
On the stand, Nicholas-Tabalanza said, “She’s also a grown woman … this is someone that’s needing space.”
A couple women in the jury nodded their heads after that comment.
9:50 a.m. — Week 4 of the Larry Millete murder trial began with testimony from a former co-worker of Maya Millete, who testified that Maya did not have an idea of her own finances.
Claudia Julao first met Maya in August 2015, when Maya was her worked with at the Navy’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC).
Julao described Maya—whom she called May—as a mentor, saying she was very welcoming and caring. They became friends outside of work and stayed in contact even after Julao left SWRMC to work in insurance and financial planning.
Maya reached out to her in October 2020 to do estate planning because she wanted to make sure that if anything happened to her, her children were taken care of. Through this process, Julao found that Maya did not have a grasp of her family’s finances.
“She was a very smart woman,” Julao said, finding it strange that Maya did not have basic information needed to start estate planning,
Julao said Maya asked her about divorce, but she never mentioned to her about planning for her own separation from her husband.
Julao said they were never able to set up a future meeting about estate planning with both Larry and Maya due to scheduling.
She testified she last communicated with Maya on New Year’s of 2021, wishing each other a happy new year. After that, Julao said she never heard from her again.
A photographer who was scheduled to take photos of Maya’s family also testified. Camille Camacho said Maya answered a model call, and they were scheduled to take pictures on Jan. 6, 2021.
A few days before the scheduled photo shoot, Maya asked to reschedule, saying she got into an accident and had bruises.
The nature of the accident wasn't revealed.
Camacho said they were going to reschedule to mid-January, but that never happened.
