Prosecutors said the 23-year-old mother, Katrina, and her 27-year-old boyfriend Jose forced her 5-year-old daughter to put uriine-soaked socks in her mouth and then pulled it out so aggressively that two of her teeth fell out. But, unfortunately, that’s not the worst of it! Last week, the mother pleaded guilty to her role in the death of her 5-year-old daughter. Prosecutors said the mother pleaded guilty to a first-degree felony count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, NYP reported.
According to the court documents, the District Attorney’s Office agreed to reduce her sentence at 45 years if she pleaded guilty. Investigators revealed that the 5-year-old child, Mercedes, suffered weeks of extreme physical abuse that left her with cuts and bruises and caused her to lose large chunks of hair and several toenails.
Both the mother and her boyfriend abused the child for three weeks after she asked him to help discipline the girl. She claimed he forced her daughter to put dog fe-es in her mouth as he screamed at her. The mother also said that her boyfriend stuffed a sock soaked in ur-ne into the girl’s mouth and then pulled it out so aggressively that two of her teeth fell out, officials have said.
During an interview with investigators, the mother also said that her boyfriend repeatedly struck Mercedes with belts and his hands, which were covered with rings. Her boyfriend claimed he only slapped the girl on the a-s and accused the victim’s 6-year-old sister of pulling out her hair. Ruiz, who pleaded not guilty to injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, is scheduled to go to trial in October.
