EVANSVILLE — A 4-year-old girl who died June 16 after being found unresponsive two days before died from complications of blunt force trauma to the head and neck, according to the Vanderburgh County Coroner.
Octavia Aquino of Evansville was found in an East Side apartment June 14 after a person living there called 911 after finding her unresponsive. She was initially reported to be alive, but with "very little brain activity." She died two days later on Father's Day.
Aquino's mother, 23-year-old Destiny Rhoades, was arrested after the child was found. She has been charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and invasion of privacy, both of which are misdemeanors.
A 16-year-old, Christian T. Gonzalez, who police described as Rhoades' "boyfriend" in a news release, was arrested and waived to adult court where is he charged with murder. Gonzalez is not the father of the 4-year-old girl.
EPD detectives reported that they found Gonzalez was a missing juvenile from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and there was an active protective order out against Rhoades. Rhoades has an active EPD criminal case against her from February when she allegedly helped the juvenile escape from a detention facility in Evansville and run away from his guardian in Fort Wayne.
According to the affidavit, Rhoades told police she had confronted the 16-year-old about the marks on her daughter and he told her a cat had caused the injuries.
The affidavit alleges that Rhoades lied to Gonzalez, and said there was a camera in the living room and she would look at the footage, at which point the teen reportedly told Rhoades he had bitten the victim after she had bitten him first, according to the affidavit.
Rhoades also told officers in a different interview that her daughter had told her the 16-year-old bit her and "covered" her mouth.
The affidavit states that the rest of the day after the confrontation, Rhoades thought her daughter was displaying "odd behaviors," and she did not eat anything aside from a bag of Cheetos that day.
According to the affidavit, police asked Rhoades about a report that her daughter had vomited, as well. She said likely it was due to her being anxious.
"Destiny agreed that this could have been because her daughter had just been strangled and bit by the male," the affidavit states.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Vanderburgh County Coroner: 4-year-old girl died from blunt force trauma
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