GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A trial date has now been set for a Green Bay man that is charged with a baby’s death.
32-year-old Juan Maravilla is facing charges of first-degree reckless homicide and repeated physical abuse of a child causing death in connection with the death of his girlfriend’s child.
Court records show that a trial has been set for October 14, with two pre-trial hearings before that.
Sarah Kairys, the mother, also faces charges and no trial has been set for her on charges of being a party to the crime of child neglect causing death, and failing to prevent child abuse.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police responded to a deceased child who had been brought in by her parents to St. Mary’s Hospital on May 25, 2017. The girl was covered in bruises and Kairys originally told police the child had fallen down the stairs.
Maravilla described abuse that he said Kairys inflicted on the girl, upon subsequent questioning, including hitting her.
Kairys said she was suspicious of Maravilla, days after the death, because she noticed bruises on the girl, but Maravilla said the girl fell down.
In the days leading up to her death, the bruises were getting darker and the child walked with a limp despite Kairys saying that she did not see Maravilla physically harm the child.
Maravilla admitted to his role in her death when he was questioned again.
“’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 that was serving in the Brown County Jail with Maravilla told police that he said he had kicked the baby in the head.
The child suffered multiple fractures — including two ribs — and injuries which resulted in a perforated bowel, leading to death, according to the autopsy.
