GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A man charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of a 15-month old child pleaded not guilty on Monday.
31-year-old Juan Maravilla is also being charged with repeated physical abuse of a child causing death in relation to his girlfriend’s child’s death.
Court records indicate that he will be back in court on December 10 for a status conference and no trial date has been set.
The mother of the deceased child. Sarah Kairys, will return to court on Friday to face charges of being party to the crime of child neglect causing death and failing to prevent child abuse.
The criminal complaint shows that police responded to St. Mary’s Hospital on May 25, 2017, following reports of a deceased child that had been brought in by her parents.
Kairys original told police her child was covered in bruises because she fell down the stairs.
Amidst questioning, Maravilla revealed to police that physical abuse had taken place, which included Kairys hitting the child.
Maravilla was questioned again days after the death and this time revealed his role in the child’s 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.”
An autopsy revealed that the child had suffered multiple fractures, which includes two ribs, and sustained injuries that resulted in a perforated bowel and lead to death.
