EVANSVILLE — A jury on Friday found an Evansville teenager guilty of felony murder for the June killing of 4-year-old Octavia Aquino.
The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office announced the verdict against 16-year-old Christian Gonzalez late Friday, which came after a four-day trial.
Aquino, who was pronounced dead June 16, loved arts and crafts and the TV shows Paw Patrol and Cocomelon, among others, according to her obituary.
Aquino’s grandmother told WEHT–Eyewitness News her granddaughter was a “little ray of sunshine.”
City police arrested Aquino’s mother, Destiny Rhoades, of Fort Wayne, and Gonzalez after first responders found Aquino unresponsive and in dire need of medical attention inside a Springs Valley Flats apartment.
While doctors placed Aquino on life support, she was pronounced dead June 16 due to what the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office described as “blunt force trauma” to her head and neck.
In an affidavit of probable cause, police wrote that Gonzalez was not Aquino’s father. At the time of the June medical emergency, Gonzalez was reportedly in a relationship with Rhoades, who was 23 years old.
Rhoades is scheduled to stand trial March 17 on charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, contributing to the delinquency of a minor who commits murder, and one misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy, court records state.
According to the affidavit, Gonzalez admitted to Rhoades that he had bitten Aquino one day prior to the medical emergency — though police believe Gonzalez also strangled the girl.
Rhoades reportedly told investigators that her daughter said Gonzalez had bitten her and placed his hand over her mouth one day before police found Aquino unresponsive.
“All cases involving crimes against children are high-profile and of the utmost importance,” Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers, who tried the case alongside Deputy Prosecutor Audrey Beckerle, wrote in a statement Friday.
“We will continue to fight hard against anyone who harms innocent children,” the statement reads.
Moers added that her office planned to release additional information regarding the case.
According to court records, Superior Court Judge Robert Pigman is scheduled to sentence Gonzalez Feb. 13. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville jury finds teenager guilty of murder in killing of 4 year old