Sierra left Machado, Julia and Daniela stuffed in a closet in the home they all once shared in Miami\u2019s Flagami neighborhood. The bodies were found beside one another on Nov. 13, 2012, three days after they were killed. Lew said she was at the house when investigators were documenting the crime scene, and she performed the autopsy the following day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a triple death, so I needed to get answers as quickly as possible for law enforcement,\u201d Lew testified.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Trial begins for killer who \u2018tortured\u2019 wife, her girls with plastic bag<\/a><\/p>\n The fate of Sierra is in the hands of 12 jurors who are tasked with deciding whether Sierra should be condemned to Florida\u2019s Death Row or sentenced to life in prison for the murders. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez is presiding.<\/p>\n Defendant Alberto Sierra Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n Julia and Daniela\u2019s father, Michael Padrino Sr., teared up in the courtroom as Lew testified about the girls\u2019 deaths and pointed out their injuries in autopsy photos. Sierra put his head down as prosecutors displayed the images.<\/p>\n A brutal attack<\/p>\n When Lew walked into the closet, she said, she noticed that Daniela and Julia were clothed but Machado was nude. Julia\u2019s body, she noted, was visibly in a latter stage of decomposition than that of her sister and mother.<\/p>\n Machado, Daniela and Julia, Lew said, all had white foamy fluid coming out of their mouths and noses. While performing their autopsies, Lew said she noticed their lungs were also full of fluid, which is common in cases of asphyxia, she said.<\/p>\n Prosecutor Abbe Rifkin shows evidence to Dr. Emma Lew, former Miami-Dade Chief Medical Examiner, during the fourth day of Alberto Sierra\u2019s sentencing trial before Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n Lew testified that Julia, was almost face down and was lying partly on Daniela. Red fluid had come out of her mouth, and blood had dripped out of her nose, the doctor added.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bloody clothes shown to jury in case of man who suffocated wife, two girls<\/a><\/p>\n The significant discoloration on Julia\u2019s body indicated that she was already dead when she was stuffed into the closet with her mother and sister, the pathologist said. Several injuries on her body, Lew testified, were consistent with Julia reacting when she was being killed, possibly because she was kicking and trying to break free.<\/p>\n Lew recalled how the room, which was full of crime scene investigators, fell silent when she took off Julia\u2019s pants to examine her body. Julia\u2019s underwear was soaked in blood, prompting Lew to examine Julia for sexual assault.<\/p>\n The blood and nature of the injuries to her genitals, which Lew described as being \u201cpulled apart,\u201d indicated the child was alive and likely in significant pain during the rape. Sierra appeared stoic as Lew testified about Julia\u2019s sexual assault.<\/p>\n When Daniela\u2019s body arrived at the morgue, she was wearing a blue headband with a bow and pigtails, Lew said. The stains on Daniela\u2019s clothing were the result of fluids that come out of body cavities after death, the doctor added.<\/p>\n Lew said she located a bruise in Daniela\u2019s mouth, which was consistent with an object being pressed against her face while she was still alive. Several of the organs around her neck had hemorrhaging, which was worse in her spleen, which Lew said could mean weight was applied to her body. Sierra, Rifkin said, straddled Daniela and put his weight on her as he suffocated her with the plastic bag.<\/p>\n When Lew began to examine Machado\u2019s body, the doctor said, she immediately noticed that she had been jabbed and sliced all over \u2014 even after she was already dead. The pale color of Machado\u2019s body, she added, indicated that she had lost a significant amount of blood. No blood was found on Machado\u2019s body, which Lew said meant she had been cleaned.<\/p>\n Machado also had abrasions on her lower back, near a tattoo of Julia\u2019s name, that Lew said are consistent with her hands being tied behind her back. Lew said she didn\u2019t find obvious signs that Machado was sexually assaulted but added that it wasn\u2019t unusual for a woman who had given birth to three children.<\/p>\n Machado also had cuts on her hands and defensive wounds on her fingers, the doctor testified. The corners of her mouth were carved, and she had a curved slice on her chin under her lips that Rifkin said looked like a smile. Machado suffered those injuries, Lew said, when she was alive, likely causing her pain.<\/p>\n The defense did not cross-examine Lew on Friday but will do so on Oct. 14 due to scheduling conflicts.<\/p>\n The trial will continue next week as Miami-Dade Det. Juan Chaidez returns to the stand to complete his testimony. Prosecutors plan to play Sierra\u2019s 40-minute statement to Chaidez.<\/p>\n Defendant Alberto Sierra reacts as a doll is taken away it was used in a demonstration by prosecutor Abbe Rifkin during the fourth day of his sentencing trial. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
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