SAN ANTONIO – A judge has sentenced a man to life in prison and fined him $5,000 after a jury found him guilty of beating a 5-year-old to death.

On Wednesday, 226th District Court Judge Velia Meza sentenced Daniel Garcia to life in prison after he allegedly beat 5-year-old Domenic Aguilar to death and dumped his body in the river in 2021.

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The Texas Department of Corrections will decide on Garcia’s parole eligibility at a later date.

Aguilar’s mother, Nickolle Aguilar, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role in her child’s death after pleading guilty to child injury and aggravated assault by omission.

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“The evidence in this case is tragic and painful from beginning to end. Our office will continue to fight against those who harm our children,” said Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales. “Domenic deserved so much better than he got in life, and Daniel Garcia deserves every single day of his time in prison.”

According to the records, Garica beat Domenic for three weeks before he died, eventually hitting the boy so hard that he bounced off a wall and later died from his injuries.

Garcia and Aguilar then traveled with the child’s body to Colorado, where they buried the child in a ravine not far from their camp.