A cruel father and his wife caused the death of their 5-year-old daughter by starving her over a long period of time, according to police in Oregon.
A Deschutes County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Redmond residents Sacora Horn-Garcia, 31, and Estevan Garcia, 34, with murder by abuse, manslaughter, and criminal mistreatment for causing the death of five-year-old Maliyha Hope Garcia.
Garcia is the girl’s father and Horn-Garcia is her step-mother.
Garcia and Horn-Garcia are alleged to have acted recklessly and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.
The grand jury found that their actions and inactions, which included neglect and maltreatment, caused the death of the child.
Late last year, 911 was contacted to report the child was unconscious and not breathing.
First responders attempted life-saving measures and then transported the child to St. Charles Hospital in Redmond, where she was pronounced deceased.
An autopsy was conducted the next day by the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office. Test showed that the girl was starved over a long period of time until she died.
She weighed just 24 pounds the day she died. Witnesses told police that the father and stepmother routinely withheld food from the girl as a form of punishment.
The other children in the family seemed well nourished.
Maliyha occasionally begged her neighbor for food, and she would eat until throwing up.