In a complicated twist to a tragedy that has been unfolding since 2021, Nickolle Aguilar, the mother charged in the death of her five-year-old son, has had her plea withdrawn and her sentencing halted. This sudden pivot is due to the revelation that Aguilar is not a U.S. citizen but a resident, a detail that came into sharp focus during her plea hearing. Judge Velia J. Meza, who presided over the case, discovered the discrepancy while reviewing Aguilar's statements, where she previously claimed to be a citizen. "When I asked you if you were a citizen at the time of the plea, your answer was 'yes,'" Judge Meza stated, as KSAT reports.
This legal entanglement comes in the wake of the death of Domenic Aguilar-Acevedo, whose body was found in a ravine in Colorado after dying in a Northeast Side hotel in July 2021. Aguilar, alongside her then-boyfriend Daniel Garcia, stood accused of the child's death. Garcia was recently found guilty of injury to a child and awaits sentencing, while Aguilar had taken a plea deal for her testimony against Garcia, facing a maximum sentence of 15 years, as per information obtained from KSAT.
An immigration attorney has now been appointed to handle Aguilar's case, and a hearing has been scheduled for July to decide the next steps. The details of Aguilar’s journey, involving smuggling herself from Nicaragua to Costa Rica and eventually to the U.S. as a child, have come to light through letters from Aguilar’s family and her own testimony.
Meanwhile, Garcia’s trial presented its own complexities. The defense questioned the credibility of a pivotal witness – Garcia’s seven-year-old daughter – through the testimony of psychologist Lisa Watts. Watts suggested that the child's recollections might have been influenced, arguing, "The longer a child goes through time, they rely on what they are told to them rather than what they went through, which would alter their memory." This assertion came despite Watts admitting she had not personally spoken with or interviewed the girl, according to her statement to KSAT.
The jury is set to convene on Wednesday to make a decision on Garcia's guilt and consider if the charges will stand or be reduced. With both the state and the defense having rested their cases after five days of court proceedings, the final chapter of this legal battle is now imminent.Closing arguments are expected to begin around 9 am, and the details of the trial can be followed through KSAT's livestream on their website and other platforms.
