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An Echo Park mother whose malnourished 11-year-old son was found dead last month in a closet at her home is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on murder and child abuse charges.
Police said a number of reports were made by concerned citizens to child welfare officials about the son who hadn’t attended school since 2012, but apparently no investigation was launched.
Veronica Aguilar, 39, is scheduled to appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom in connection with the death of her son, Yonatan Daniel Aguilar.
She was charged Aug. 25 with one count each of murder and child abuse resulting in death involving the boy, who was found Aug. 22 wrapped in a blanket in a closet of their home in the 2100 block of Santa Ynez Street.
The boy’s stepfather, Jose Pinzon, said his wife told him that her son was dead before Pinzon found the body and called 911, according to police.
The boy allegedly died due to neglect and showed severe signs of malnutrition, according to prosecutors.
Aguilar was arrested the day after her son’s body was discovered. At her first court appearance last month, she was ordered to remain jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.
If convicted as charged, she could face up to 15 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Capt. Julian Melendez, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Juvenile Division, told the Los Angeles Times last month that he was aware of three reports to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services regarding possible abuse of the boy. The possible abuse was also reported to police but did not trigger an investigation by detectives from that division, according to Melendez.
The boy had not attended classes in the Los Angeles Unified School District since 2012 and was thought to have possibly been in Mexico for some time, authorities told the newspaper.
—City News Service
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