CA - Yonatan Aguilar, 11, found dead in closet, Echo Park, 22 August 2016 *Arrest*

This absolutely breaks my heart because it sounds like this could have been prevented. CPS had been previously called to the home. RIP beautiful boy. If this is a duplicate, please merge as I could not find this anywhere.


http://abc7.com/news/11-year-old-boys-body-found-at-echo-park-home;-mother-arrested/1483649/

ECHO PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The mother of an 11-year-old boy has been arrested after the boy's body was found in a closet at their Echo Park home, authorities announced Tuesday.

Veronica Aguilar, 39, was booked on suspicion of child endangerment resulting in death or great bodily injury, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

An investigation indicated the boy suffered from signs of malnutrition and physical abuse, according to the LAPD.

Officers responded about 2:15 p.m. Monday to the 2200 block of Sunset Boulevard, where they met with the victim's stepfather, Jose Pinzon. The man told the officers that Aguilar, his wife, had told him that her son was dead, the news release said.

Pinzon had found the child wrapped in a blanket inside a closet at the nearby residence, located in the 2100 block of Santa Ynez Street, police said.

According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, the boy has been identified as Yonaton Daniel Aguilar.

Aguilar’s mother, Veronica, 39, is scheduled to appear in court after she was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child endangerment that resulted in death.

The Los Angeles Times reports Aguilar has two other children, who have since been placed in protective care.


http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/08/25/autopsy-echo-park-death/

So sorry sweet boy. :rose: RIP Yonaton

Days apart in 2012, two teachers contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services about a young boy named Yonatan Daniel Aguilar.

One reported that the boy was suffering from general neglect. Another said he had a black eye.

(...)

The boy’s family had been the subject of six prior reports to DCFS, the department’s director, Philip L. Browning, said Monday. Two reports in 2002 pre-dated Yonatan’s birth and involved at least one of his siblings, Browning said.

Browning shared details about prior reports after DCFS received a court order from Michael Levanas, presiding judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Juvenile Division, to release more information about the case.

Click to expand...

Much more at the link

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-yonatan-aguilar-death-records-dcfs-20160914-snap-story.html

The boy in the closet weighed 34 pounds.

When police officers removed the mirrored doors behind which Yonatan Daniel Aguilar had died hours earlier, they found a crumpled blanket on the ground, obscuring his emaciated body — pale and stiff, curled in a fetal position, with cuts on his face.

One officer lifted a corner of the blanket and two cockroaches crawled out. The child was so tiny that officers thought maybe he was 6 years old or so. But he was 11.

Details about the condition of Yonatan’s body when it was found last month in his Echo Park home were disclosed in more than 100 pages of heavily-redacted case records and police reports released to The Times by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services this week.

The records show that Yonatan’s risk of abuse at home had been marked as “high” four times from 2009 to 2012 by a county program intended to guide social workers’ level of intervention.
[...]
The boy fell off the county’s radar after 2012, Browning said. There were no other reports about him, and DCFS does not have the legal right to inquire about a child without a report, he said.

By 2016, Yonatan and his siblings lived with their mother and stepfather in a one-bedroom residence on Santa Ynez Street. One child slept in a shed in the backyard, records show.

On Aug. 22, Yonatan’s stepfather, Jose Pinzon, reported the boy’s death to police. Officers found him frantic and crying in the parking lot of a nearby 7-Eleven.

When officers got to the family’s home, Aguilar was outside, walking a dog. After finding the body, records say, one of the officers grabbed the boy’s arm and shook it.

“Are you OK?” the officer tried asking. The boy’s arm was stiff.

Neighbors told police they had never seen a young boy at the home.

* * * * *
This is the first time I have heard about this case. Reading this article just brought me to tears! So many opportunities to save Yonatan were missed.

Was the step-father, Jose Pinzon, ever charged with anything?

This house is directly behind my office and I parked in front of it today not realizing. I sat there and thought of this little guy. I'm beyond disturbed at how this case was treated, even though we have seen it before.

There's a little memorial for Yonatan outside. And a letter that's been worn from the sun.

Wish his murderer(s) could suffer the same punishment !
I'll admit I have questions about that stepdad ..if completely innocent-- why didn't he get help sooner ?

What a cute little bug Yonatan was !! Rest and fly with the angels, sweetie.

Failed in so many ways. First by the one person who was supposed to protect and love him and second by the agency that is supposed to intervene when abuse happens.

"After boy's death, L.A. County supervisors to consider reevaluating tool that calculates child abuse risk. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, responding to the death of a severely malnourished boy who was found dead in a closet last month, is considering a revamp of the county program intended to measure children’s risk of abuse. "

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...onatan-aguilar-death-20160919-snap-story.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yonatan-aguilar-court-records-20161026-story.html

Los Angeles police detectives investigating the case believed Aguilar’s efforts to hide the boy were so effective that even the boy’s stepfather, Jose Pinzon, didn’t know Yonatan lived with them all along.

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Yonatan’s family had been the subject of six prior reports to DCFS alleging possible abuse or neglect, records show. Yonatan’s risk of abuse at home had been marked as “high” four times from 2009 to 2012 by a computerized program intended to gauge social workers’ level of intervention. Social workers, records show, declined to open a case, saying the allegations of physical abuse were inconclusive or unfounded.

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I hate it when we see absolute proof that the DCFS system is broken. Children are not crumbs that should ever fall through the cracks. :cry:

this ignorant woman didn't know how to handle an austistic child. she didn't utilize the resources. poor little guy.

Too many of these lately. Horrific. How many children are locked in a closet or bathroom or basement right now? Suffering.

I was googlng for updates on the 12 year old boy Brandy Jaynes is charged with abusing and found this one.

I am so sorry Yonatan.

I admit it's a struggle to understand how the stepfather didn't know the boy was in that apartment ?

Kids cry. They whimper.
Surely if Yonatan couldn't control his bladder and bowels there must have been an odor ?
His suffering is unimaginable.

From the above link, his egg donor is an illegal alien aka 'undocumented'. That would explain why she decided to hide him.
Any attention from CPS would have increased her risk of exposure.

But otoh, wouldn't the past encounters with public school (he was observed taking as much food as he could from the cafeteria) revealed that she was an illegal ?
So why was nothing done ?
At least to rescue him ?

Calif. Mom Allegedly Starved Son, 11, and Locked Him in Closet for 3 Years Before Death
Police said the 11-year-old victim appeared to be several years younger because of severe malnourishment

June 20, 2019

"On Wednesday, a California judge determined there was enough evidence against Veronica Aguilar for the mom to stand trial in connection with the 2016 death of her 11-year-old son, who she allegedly starved over the three years she kept him hidden in a locked closet.

PEOPLE learns that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Lou Villar’s decision came after a three-day preliminary hearing in the criminal prosecution of Aguilar, 42, who faces life in prison if convicted of the first-degree murder of Yonatan Daniel Aguilar, her son with special needs.

The charge carries special circumstance allegations of torture and child abuse causing death, according to online court records, making her eligible for the death sentence if found guilty.

Aguilar, who remains in custody on $2 million bail, has entered not guilty pleas....

Aguilar is due back in court on July 3."

Calif. Mom Allegedly Starved Son, 11, and Locked Him in Closet for 3 Years Before Death
-------

Yonatan Daniel Aguilar: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know (with clip)

Oct 31, 2016

"Yonatan Daniel Aguilar was an 11-year-old Los Angeles, California boy who was found dead in August in what police there are calling one of the worst cases of child neglect and abuse they have ever seen. Now, new and disturbing details about how young Yonatan perished have come to light from court records.

Here’s what you need to know...."

Yonatan Daniel Aguilar: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

Heartbreaking!! What an evil woman. I hope Yonatan's siblings have recieved therapy.

As hard as it is to believe the step father didn't know he was even in the home police seem confident he really didn't and he did immediately call 911 as soon as his wife told him what happened. If he hadn't, I'm sure Mom would have gotten rid of Yonatan's body and never had any consequences for her actions.

@gitana1 - sorry to bother you, but could you get a Case # for this?

Los Angeles County - Veronica Aguilar now 42.

TIA!

Niner said:

@gitana1 - sorry to bother you, but could you get a Case # for this?

Los Angeles County - Veronica Aguilar now 42.

TIA!

Click to expand...

BA449570

08/25/2016 Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center (LAC)
2 AGUILAR, VERONICA RIVAS 01

Her prelim was on June 19.

Thank you gitana1! Much appreciated!

Wednesday, July 3rd:
*Arraignment Hearing (@ 8:30am PT) – CA – Yonatan Daniel Aguilar (11) (found dead in closet Aug. 22, 2016, Echo Park) - *Veronica Rivas Aguilar (39/now 42) arrested & charged (8/23/16) with murder & child endangerment resulting in death. Plead not guilty. $2M bond.
8/23/16 Update: charged with murder & child endangerment resulting in death. She allegedly starved over the three years she kept him hidden in a locked closet. The charge carries special circumstance allegations of torture and child abuse causing death, according to online court records, making her eligible for the death sentence if found guilty.
6/20/19 Update: 3-day preliminary hearing held. Enough evidence bound over for trial. Next arraignment hearing on 7/3.

Los Angeles mom on trial in death of malnourished son kept in closet


LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KTVU) - Authorities are investigating a bizarre case in Los Angeles after a 10-year-old boy was found dead in a closet, weighing only 34 pounds.

According to KABC, the boy's mother, Veronica Aguilar, is on trial for his murder and accused of keeping her special needs son, Yonatan, locked away.
[.....]
The mother of four apparently kept Yonatan a secret from his stepfather and hidden in a closet for three years from the rest of his family.

The boy's stepdad, Jose Pinzon, testified that she had told him she sent the boy away to Mexico for treatment, KABC reported.
[.....]
A doctor testified the boy was so malnourished that his knee bones were the biggest part of his legs.

If convicted, Aguilar faces 15 years to life.


Nothing on the court site for next hearing. I shall my eye out!