MIAMI (KDVR) — A couple has been arrested in the suspected death of a 5-year-old child whose body was found near Fraser, Colorado but allegedly died in a hotel room in San Antonio, Texas.
According to an arrest warrant obtained from the San Antonio Police Department, Nickolle Acevedo Aguilar, 25, and Daniel Garcia, 26, checked into Woodspring Suites with the boy July 20.
Domenic’s grandmother, Sirle Maria Acevedo Cevallos, said her daughter told her Domenic had become sick and was vomiting when they were at Woodspring Suites, the warrant said. Aguilar then told her mother that Garcia went to clean the boy up and later told her he died.
Cevallos said Aguilar and Garcia traveled to Colorado with Domenic’s body and stayed at a public campsite, the document read. The couple buried the boy near the campsite and traveled to Costa Rica, Cevallos told authorities.
After hearing the disturbing details of her grandson’s death, Cevallos contacted the FBI to request an investigation.
An FBI agent interviewed Aguilar in Costa Rica, where she corroborated the story she told her mother.
Aguilar and Cevallos traveled to Colorado on Aug. 25 to assist authorities in locating Domenic’s body. He was found down a deep ravine near Fraser and had been exposed to the elements for almost a month, the warrant said. Authorities reported the boy was wearing the same clothing he was seen in previously, but results from the Larimer County Coroner are still pending.
In an interview on Aug. 26, Aguilar told police that Garcia struck her son Domenic so hard he bounced off the wall and onto the floor on the evening of July 24.
Surveillance video showed Garcia carrying what appeared to be the lifeless body of Domenic in the early morning hours when the couple left the hotel.
When officials asked Aguilar why she didn’t report her son’s abuse, she said she was “too eager to be in a relationship with a man,” the document read. She told authorities that she and Garcia did not report Domenic’s death because they didn’t want to lose custody of their other children.
Garcia and Aguilar were arrested in Miami and are awaiting extradition to Texas.