According to the court documents, the mother, later identified as 23-year-old Katrina, pleaded guilty to one count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission in connection with her daughter’s brutal death. The mother received a sentence of 45 years in exchange for her admission of guilt. Katrina reprotedly admitted to killing her 5-year-old child, Mercedes. The mother and her boyfriend reportedly subjected the little girl to extreme abuse and t0rture.
The mother and her 27-year-old boyfriend Jose were taken into custody last year following the girl’s death. Jose is scheduled to go to trial in October. Last year, the mother brought the unresponsive 5-year-old child to a hospital for treatment. Hospital staff attempted life saving measures, but unfortunately, the child died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Doctors called the authorities after noticing visible injuries on the girl’s body. The 5-year-old girl reportedly had visible patches of hair missing that appeared to have been torn straight from her head. The child also had bruises, scratches, cuts, and swelling on every visible portion of her body.
She had cuts and swelling on both of her hands that appeared to be defensive wounds, police said. The girl’s legs and feet were also battered and she was missing several toe nails. The victim’s legs were covered with bruises, some of which appeared to be patterned, which is what is commonly seen when belts or other objects are used to inflict injury. According to the court documents, the girl’s injuries were so numerous that the medical examiner said there was no clear or obvious injury that caused the victim’s death. The girl’s mom accused her boyfriend of subjecting her 5-year-old daughter to horrific abuse in the three weeks since she and her 6-year-old daughter moved into his home.
During an interview with investigators, the mother reportedly said that she saw her boyfriend shove dog fec-s into the victim’s mouth as he yelled at the child and “did the same thing with a sock soaked in urlne. She further claimed that Jose aggressively pulled the sock from her daughter’s mouth with such force that he ripped out two of her teeth. The mother also said that her boyfriend punched the child with closed fists while wearing multiple rings. She also said Jose forced Mercedes to stand in place while holding heavy objects during a video call in the weeks before her death.