Teen charged with murder of 4-year-old girl after police find bite marks on child

A young Indiana girl died Sunday after her mother's teenage boyfriend allegedly bit her on the arm, authorities said.

On Friday, June 14, Evansville police were called to the apartment of Destiny Rhoades, 23, on Spring Valley Road, who said her daughter, Octavia Aquino, 4, was unresponsive and “beyond any assistance,” the Evansville Police Department said in a news release. on Facebook.

The officer who initially responded to the call described the little girl as being “cold to the touch,” the release said.

Evansville firefighters arrived on scene and immediately began working to resuscitate the child. She was transported to a local hospital “alive” but with “very little brain activity,” according to Evansville police.

Rhoades was at work when her daughter was found unresponsive, police said. Her boyfriend, Christian T. Gonzalez, 16, of Fort Wayne, was inside the apartment with three other adult women who live there when Octavia was found, police said in a follow-up release Monday June 17.

The four adult residents were transported to police headquarters where they were questioned by detectives. Gonzalez was not initially interviewed because of his age, the release said.

Rhoades told police that when she left for work at 7 a.m. that morning, Octavia was sleeping, police said.

“A roommate reported noticing the child had bruises on his body (Thursday), particularly around his neck,” the statement said. “She also had a human bite mark on her forearm. Detectives learned that the 16-year-old boyfriend admitted to biting the child, but only after she bit him first.”

After that, one of the roommates told police that Octavia “appeared to be 'looking away' and feeling nauseous” while in Rhoades' care last night, the statement said.

Rhoades was arrested and initially charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, police said. That charge was amended to neglect of a dependent resulting in death when the child died Sunday, police said.

Gonzalez made his first appearance in juvenile court Monday and was remanded to adult court.

Authorities initially charged Gonzalez, as an adult, with battery resulting in serious injury, before charging him with murder.

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An autopsy is expected to take place later this week.

As authorities continue to investigate, Octavia's family grapples with her death.

“I feel lost,” said Octavia's grandmother, Linda Alvarez, local station WFIE reports. “I feel broken. She is just one of the happiest, always smiling, full of life and courageous little girls I have ever met in my life.

“I don’t understand how anyone can hurt a little innocent baby,” Alvarez told WFIE. “She’s four years old.”

It is unclear whether Rhoades and Gonzalez have retained attorneys who can speak on their behalf.