Man charged with murder in death of five-year-old boy going to trial on different charge

  

SAN ANTONIO – A man charged with the murder of a five-year-old boy is heading for trial on a different charge.

Daniel Garcia is accused of causing the death of Domenic Aguilar-Acevedo back in July 2021.

Aguilar-Acevedo’s body was later found in a ravine in Colorado near the Rocky Mountain National Park.

According to the arrest warrant, Garcia is accused of physically abusing the child causing his death at a Northeast Side hotel.

Garcia and the boy’s mother, Nickolle Aguilar, later drove to Colorado and left his remains there before fleeing the country to Costa Rica.

Garcia was initially charged with murder and Aguilar with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission.

Nickolle Aguilar (KSAT 12 News)

Aguilar has since accepted a plea deal in exchange for her testimony against Garcia.

The state is no longer pursuing a murder charge against Garcia but instead will try him on a charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury.

That charge is still a first-degree felony and the range of punishment is five to 99 years or life in prison. If he’s found guilty, the jury could also consider probation in this case, which would not have been an option for a murder conviction.

The trial itself will begin on May 21 in the 226th District Court.