Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
Isabella Gomez Sarmiento is a production assistant with Weekend Edition.
She was a 2019 Kroc Fellow. During her fellowship, she reported for Goats and Soda, the National Desk and Weekend Edition. She also wrote for NPR Music and contributed to the Alt.Latino podcast.
Gomez Sarmiento ed NPR after graduating from Georgia State University with a B.A. in journalism, where her studies focused on the intersections of media and gender. Throughout her time at school, she wrote for outlets including Teen Vogue, CNN, Remezcla, She Shreds Magazine and more.
- In a week when two witnesses using pseudonyms testified that Combs had assaulted or abused them and another witness said he dangled her over a hotel balcony, the rap mogul's defense team conducted its cross examination more aggressively.
- On Thursday, a woman identified as "Jane" testified that Combs, who she says she dated until he was arrested in 2024, the hip-hop mogul pressured her into sexual encounters with male escorts.
- A former security guard testified Tuesday that Sean Combs offered tens of thousands of dollars for security footage that allegedly showed him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
- The prosecution pushed back on the defense's aggressive questioning of a former Combs employee, saying harassment of the witness might intimidate others taking the stand.
- The witnesses who have testified over the second week of the criminal trial of Sean Combs have offered context around the narrative that Cassie Ventura shared during its opening week. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has spent the week in the courthouse in New York and reports on what the jury has heard.
- The musician Scott Mescudi, who records as Kid Cudi, told the court that after Combs discovered his relationship with Cassie Ventura, his house was broken into and his car was set on fire.
- Regina Ventura and Kerry Morgan testified in the federal trial of Sean Combs this week as the prosecution continues to build a case around the mogul's relationship with singer Cassie Ventura.
- On Friday, Sean Combs' defense lawyers questioned Cassie Ventura about how much of the former couple's activities she willingly participated in. "I had to fight my way out," she said.
- The first week of Sean Combs' criminal trial featured testimony by witnesses and alleged victims, including ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, who testified their relationship was marked with violence.
- Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs, took the stand on Tuesday as the star witness in the first full day of testimony in the federal trial against the hip-hop mogul.