Echo Park Mother Starved Boy, Hid Him in Closet for Years Before His Death: Stepfather

Yonatan Daniel Aguilar is seen in a family photo album shown at his public memorial on Sept. 14, 2016 in Echo Park. (Credit: KTLA)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Jun 19, 2019 / 08:34 PM PDT

Updated: Jun 19, 2019 / 08:34 PM PDT

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The stepfather of a young boy whose emaciated body was found inside the closet of an Echo Park home testified Wednesday that he thought the boy had been sent to Mexico by his mother, who is charged with murder in his death.

In a preliminary hearing, Jose Pinzon said Veronica Aguilar told him she had sent her youngest son, Yonatan, south of the border for treatment for special needs. Pinzon said Aguilar was in the U.S. illegally and felt helpless in caring for Yonatan, a special education student with a learning disability. Aguilar has pleaded not guilty.

But prosecutors painted a very different picture, saying Aguilar locked Yonatan in a closet, sedated him with liquid sleeping aids and starved him to the point that the 11-year-old weighed only 34 pounds when police found his body in August 2016.

At the end of the three-day hearing Wednesday, L.A. Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar ruled there was an “overwhelming” amount of evidence for Aguilar to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder, with the special circumstance allegation of torture, and child abuse causing death.

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