GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The man who caused the death of his girlfriend’s 15-month-old child was convicted Friday.
Juan Maravilla, 33, pleaded no contest to first-degree reckless homicide, while a count of physical abuse of a child causing death was dismissed. He will be sentenced April 24.
Prosecutors and the defense will jointly recommend a prison term of up 18 years. The maximum sentence would be up 60 years.
The mother, Sarah Kairys, is also charged. She returns to court Feb. 17 on charges of being party to the crime of child neglect causing death, and failing to prevent child abuse.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police responded to St. Mary’s Hospital on May 25, 2017, for a deceased child who had been brought in. The girl was covered in bruises. Kairys originally told police the child had fell down the stairs.
Upon subsequent questioning, Maravilla described abuse that he said Kairys inflicted on the girl, including hitting her.
Days after the death, Kairys said she was suspicious of Maravilla because she noticed bruises on the girl, but Maravilla said the girl fell down. She said she did not see Maravilla physically harm the child, but in the days leading up to her death, the bruises were getting darker and the child walked with a limp.
Maravilla was questioned again, and this time admitted to his role in her death.
“’I smacked her up because I got mad, I just got mad and I accidentally hit her,” the complaint quotes him as saying. “I didn’t mean for this (expletive), I didn’t want her to go (die)she died man, she’s dead, I didn’t want that.”
A person serving in the Brown County Jail with Maravilla told police he said he had kicked the baby in the head.
According to the autopsy, the child suffered multiple fractures — including two ribs — and injuries which resulted in a perforated bowel, leading to death, the complaint states.
