Missing 5 yr old Travis County TX child Julian Soliz found dead(Father's GF Chgd

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2012/03/28/trial_in_death_of_5yearold_boy.html?cxntfid=blogs_austin_legal
Trial in death of 5-year-old boy set for April 9
March 28, 2012

A woman charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy who had been left in her care in 2010 is scheduled to go to trial next month.

State District Judge Jim Coronado today scheduled Nichole Shante Turner’s trial for April 9.

Also today, Turner pleaded not guilty to the charge of injury to a child, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison.
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Turner, who was 22 at the time, had been watching Julian and her two young children at the time of Julian’s death, according to an arrest affidavit and court statements. She told detectives that she had been watching the boy since his father had been arrested about a month before he died.

Turner told investigators that she gave the boy a “whooping” as punishment for lying on April 6, according to an arrest affidavit. She later told detectives it was April 7, the affidavit said.

“She described how she hit Julian with a black leather belt because he had told a lie,” the affidavit said. “Nichole described that as she was doing this, she got a hold of Julian’s hand and he was moving around while she was hitting him with the belt. Nichole said she hit Julian on his buttocks with the belt three or four times. Then when Julian’s pants were down, she hit him with her hand on his buttocks.”

According to the affidavit, she told an investigator that as she was hitting the child, he fell to the ground and that she held him by his wrist.
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Cry me a river!! Sorry azz defense attorney!

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Turner’s lawyer Kyle Collins told the American-Statesman shortly after her arrest that his client is innocent and that it’s “not fair” that a woman who took care of Julian Salazar Soliz “without pay and without a thank-you from his natural parents” is being accused of injuring him.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/news/Trial-underway-for-woman-charged-in-death-of-five-year-old-146671535.html
Trial underway for woman charged in death of five-year-old
April 9, 2012

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Nichole Turner has been charged with injury to a child. She pleaded not guilty.

Her charges stem from the death of her boyfriend's five-year-old son Julian Soliz. Police found his body in April of 2010 near a Wells Branch home, about a mile from where Turner lived.

According to an arrest affidavit, Turner admitted to beating Julian with a belt. The medical examiner later ruled that he died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/trial-of-woman-accused-in-childs-2010-death-2293205.html
Trial of woman accused in child's 2010 death opens with tearful testimony
April 9, 2012


Ralph Barrera/AAS STAFF
Julian Soliz, 5, was found dead in a grassy yard after being reported missing.

Five-year-old Julian Soliz had officially been missing for three hours when Jessica Lyon saw him lying facedown in a grassy North Austin yard.

He wasn't moving. He didn't seem to be breathing. And he didn't answer when Lyon shouted at him.

"I yelled, 'Honey, wake up; honey, wake up. You need to wake up so I know you're OK,' " Lyon tearfully told a Travis County jury Monday afternoon. "He never responded."

Lyon's testimony came on the first day in the trial of Nichole Turner, an Austin woman accused of beating Julian to death in April 2010. Turner, 24, is charged with injury to a child and, if convicted, could face life in prison.

Turner's attorney, Kyle Collins, did not give an opening statement and, therefore, did not offer his client's version of events. But prosecutors painted Turner as an abusive caretaker in a tumultuous relationship with Julian's father, Leonard Soliz.

Julian was living with Turner at her Wells Branch-area apartment in March 2010 when the relationship between Turner and Soliz soured, prosecutor Victoria Winkeler told the jury.

Soliz had stopped coming home, she said, but Julian continued to live with Turner.

Around that time, Julian began showing signs of abuse, arriving at school with a black eye and complaining that his shoulder hurt, Winkeler said.

Shortly after 7 a.m. April 10, 2010, Turner called the police to report that Julian was missing. She told them that she had looked for him, driving to a local park, a duck pond and the neighborhoods around the apartment complex before giving up and calling authorities, Winkeler said.

But Turner's story was inconsistent and the timeline of events changed frequently, Winkeler said.
During her interviews with police that day, Turner said that she had hit Julian several days before he disappeared, beating him with a belt for lying, Winkeler told the jury.

In an arrest affidavit filed in July 2010, police stated that Turner said she had "lost control" and may have hit him in the abdomen.

A medical examiner later found the boy had nearly 60 bruises and contusions on his body and had died from internal bleeding.

"He was beaten to death, ladies and gentlemen," Winkeler said.
More...

[KittyMom]

That poor baby.  I'll bet she took her angry at his father out on him.  Sickening!

[MuffyBee]

    Over how long a period did little Julian suffer?


http://www.statesman.com/news/local/witnesses-in-boys-beating-death-case-testify-to-2295721.html
Witnesses in boy's beating death case testify to odd scene, discrepancies in woman's story
By Ricardo Gándara, American-Statesman
April 11, 2012

Kindergartner Julian Soliz's lifeless and badly bruised body his face down in foliage and arms at his sides appeared to have been placed there, a Travis County sheriff's detective told jurors Tuesday during the beating death trial of the woman who was caring for the boy at the time.

"It's abnormal for a child to be laying face down. It seemed so unnatural with his hands at his sides," said Sylvia Leal, a detective who investigated the scene where the 5-year-old's body was found April 10, 2010, in heavy brush outside a home in the Wells Branch area.

"Was it a strange scene?" asked Travis County prosecutor Jeremy Sylestine.

"A very strange scene," Leal said.
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Prosecutors spent most of the trial's second day establishing evidence for their case against Turner, who called police at 7 a.m. to report the boy missing from her apartment in northern Travis County. She told the 911 operator that she last saw Julian the night before at about 10 p.m. Turner and Julian's father, Leonard Soliz, had been living together, but the relationship soured in March 2010, prosecutors said. That was about the time that Soliz was jailed on a weapons charge.

According to testimony, there were discrepancies in Turner's statements the day Julian's body was found. Turner told 911 operator Samantha Butler that the front door to her apartment was unlocked but closed. Another officer testified that Turner said the door was wide open when she awoke.
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Other testimony Tuesday dealt with Julian's father, Leonard Soliz. Officers said Soliz, who had been notified early in the day that the boy was missing, was cutting hair at a Montopolis salon that afternoon when officials arrived to notify him of the boy's death. He broke down crying, they said. "He fell to his knees," said Terri Wilhelm, a now-retired sheriff's office victim counselor.

There were disturbing moments in court when prosecutors showed photos of Julian's body, clad in a black jacket, red shorts and multicolor tennis shoes. His body had scratches on the chest and bruises on the buttocks, abdomen, legs, back, neck and face. Coronado allowed most of the photos to be shown on the court's TV monitors, though photos of Julian's face were shown only to the jury.

Today, the jury is expected to hear testimony about three interviews Turner had with authorities. Collins asked District Judge Jim Coronado on Tuesday to suppress all the interviews because he said his client was not read her rights. The judge refused, ruling that the interviews were voluntary and that Turner was not in custody.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2012/04/12/julian_solis_fun_sweet_father.html
Julian Soliz was fun, happy, father testifies
April 12, 2012

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2012/04/13/turner_trial_resumes.html
Jury gets Turner case
April 13, 2012


jury of six women and is men Friday night began considering the fate of Nichole Turner, who has been charged with injury to a child in the April 2010 beating death of 5-year-old Julian Soliz, who was in her care.

Attorneys for both sides made their closing arguments late Friday afternoon before District Judge Jim Coronado adjourned proceedings for the weekend. Prosecutors argued Turner was angry that the boy’s father, Leonard Soliz, was seeing another woman.

Defense lawyer Kyle Collins said his client awoke to find the boy missing and packed her two children into her car to mount a frantic search of the neighborhood.

Soliz died of dozens of blunt force injuries. His body was found in tall grass in the Wells Branch area.

Turner, taking the stand in her own defense, said she made the children chicken strips and macaroni the night before Soliz was found dead. She said her daughter tried to wake her about 1 a.m., but she told the girl to go back to sleep. When she woke at 5 a.m., she went to Soliz’s room to find him missing.

Prosecutor Victoria Winkeler aggressively went after what she said were inconsistencies in Turner’s story and claims that conflicted with testimony from other witnesses. Turner remained composed throughout a vigorous cross-examination, including Winkeler using cell phone records to dispute Turner’s location when she called 911.

“So the longitude and latitude of the Travis County 911 system is also out to get you,” Winkeler said. “Is there anything else new today you’d like to add, Miss Turner?”

Travis County Sheriff’s detective Ramon Lopez testified Friday that he observed an interview with Turner’s daughter, who is not being identified at the request of Coronado, at which the girl spoke of her mother giving a “whupping” to Soliz, striking his head, buttocks, abdomen and legs. Forensic examiners earlier testified Soliz bled to death from 59 or more separate bruises. Two full cups of blood were found in his abdomen.

Prosecutors theorized Turner found the boy dead and dumped his body. Collins questioned how he could have moved the body from her apartment to her car without that event being caught on surveillance video at the complex.
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UPDATE: Nichole Turner said she made chicken strips for her daughter and a 5-year-old boy under her care on the night of April 9, 2010.

The following day, the boy, Julian Soliz, was found dead in a field. Turner faces a charge of injury to a child and faces life in prison if convicted.

Testifying in her own defense Friday, Turner remained composed as she detailed the children’s domestic routines and her troubled relationship with the boy’s father, Leonard Soliz. She maintained her composure as prosecutor Victoria Winkeler hammered at what she claimed were inconsistencies in her story, including her whereabouts when she called 911 after searching for the boy and failing to find him.

Earlier,Turner’s 7-year-old daughter, whom the American-Statesman is not naming at the request of District Courtr Judge Jim Coronado, said she saw a pair of people remove the boy from their apartment.

Turner said her daughter attempted to wake her about 1 a.m. but she told her to go back to sleep. Turner woke again about 5 a.m. To find Soliz missing.

Defense Attorney Kyle Collins also called Turner’s father before resting.

Dr. David Dolinak told jurors Friday that 5-year-old Julian Soliz died of blunt force injuries that were “not accidental.”

Dolinak, chief medical examiners witty the Travis County medical examiner’s office, said he cataloged 59 separate injuries on the boy, who weighed 38 pounds when he died.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/news/Closing-arguments-begin-in-Nichole-Turner-case-147390265.html
Closing arguments begin in Nichole Turner case
April 13, 2012

AUSTIN -- Closing arguments underway Friday night in a Travis County courtroom in the trial of Nichole Turner. She's the caretaker of five-year-old Julian Soliz who was found dead a mile and a half from turner's apartment on April 10, 2010.
 
Prosecutors told the jury in closing arguments that Turner, the ex-girlfriend of Leonard Soliz, Julian's biological father, that she (Nichole) was a scorned and angry woman who took out her frustration about Leonard dating another woman on his son Julian.
 
Julian Soliz had at least 59 bruises on his body, some of them on top of each other, when he was found deceased.
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Her attorney is giving his closing arguments Friday night and says there's no way Turner could have killed Julian because surveillance video at her apartment complex shows that her car never moved so the attorney questions how she would have taken a child's body a mile and a half away without her car.
 
Turner's attorney also says that Julian went to school the day after Turner admitted whipping him, and he claims that educators would have noticed 59 bruises on the boy if he indeed had them at the time.
 
On Thursday the jury wept as they saw pictures of the bruising on Julian's body.
 
The judge reportedly wants to wrap this case up Friday night. The case began Monday.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/nichole-turner-found-guilty-of-injury-to-a-2303636.html
Nichole Turner found guilty of injury to a child in death of 5-year-old boy
April 13, 2012

A Travis County jury Friday night found Nichole Turner guilty of injury to a child in the death of 5-year-old Julian Soliz, who had been in her care in April 2010.

The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before returning the verdict shortly after 8 p.m. Wearing a black, hooded Old Navy sweatshirt, Turner, 24, put her head on the defense table as the jury was polled. She wept as sheriff's deputies led her away in handcuffs.

District Judge Jim Coronado admonished about 35 observers against any outbursts when the verdict in the intensely emotional trial was read — the third such warning of the day. About a dozen sheriff's deputies stood guard in the courtroom. More deputies stood outside the building, and the crowd was allowed to leave only in groups.

The jury will reconvene Monday morning to consider sentencing. Turner could face life in prison.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/news/Woman-convicted-in-death-of-five-year-old-boy-147409065.html
Woman convicted in death of five-year-old boy
April 13, 2012

AUSTIN -- A guilty verdict was handed down Friday evening in the death of a five-year-old boy.

Nichole Turner, 24, was convicted of injury to a child.  Prosecutors said she was babysitting Julian Soliz and beat him to death.

Turner dropped her head to the table after the jury returned the guilty verdict.

Turner, the ex-girlfriend of Leonard Soliz, was the sole caretaker of his biological son, five-year-old Julian Soliz.  The youngster was found murdered a mile-and-a-half from Turner's apartment on April 10, 2010, a few days after he was reported missing.  The medical examiner said he had 59 bruises all over his body, some of them on top of each other.
 
Prosecutors claimed Turner beat Julian to death, taking her frustration out over the action of the boy's father.

Twelve extra Travis County deputies were called in to keep the emotional setting in check.  But even outside of the courtroom, moments after the verdict was read, the atmosphere was still volatile.  After deputies gave the Turner family time to clear the courthouse, the Soliz family emerged equally as emotional, but for different reasons.
"You're taking care of this person, feeding them, bathing them, waking up in the morning caring for this person, and you're going to have the audacity to, in your mind and in your heart, to think that a person would do something like this?  Me, as a person on the outside and a friend of the family, I'm outraged," said Joseph Hollowell, a friend of the Turner family.
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The sentencing face of the trial will start Monday morning at 8:30 a.m.  Turner faces life in prison.
 

[MuffyBee]

BBM  If she loved Julian so much, why did she beat him with a belt?! 

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/guilty-verdict-in-julian-soliz-death
Guilty verdict in Julian Soliz' death
5-year-old boy died of blunt force trauma
April 13, 2012

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She admitted to beating the boy with a belt. The autopsy found that Julian died of blunt force trauma and he had 60 bruises on his body. His body was found in a grassy patch near the intersection of Wells Port Cove and Wells Port Drive.
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Prosecutors say Turner was an abusive caretaker, accusations her family says is untrue.

"She did everything for that little boy, she loved that little boy like it was her own child," said Quitasia Moore, Turner's cousin.

[Sister]

BBM  If she loved Julian so much, why did she beat him with a belt?! 

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/guilty-verdict-in-julian-soliz-death
Guilty verdict in Julian Soliz' death
5-year-old boy died of blunt force trauma
April 13, 2012

 ::snipping2::
She admitted to beating the boy with a belt. The autopsy found that Julian died of blunt force trauma and he had 60 bruises on his body. His body was found in a grassy patch near the intersection of Wells Port Cove and Wells Port Drive.
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Prosecutors say Turner was an abusive caretaker, accusations her family says is untrue.

"She did everything for that little boy, she loved that little boy like it was her own child," said Quitasia Moore, Turner's cousin.

If she treated Julian as her own child, I hope her children are separated from her forever.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2012/04/16/nichole_turner_sentencing_phas.html
Nichole Turner sentenced to 35 years in death of 5-year-old
April 16, 2012

Update 2:15 p.m.: A Travis County Jury has sentenced Nichole Turner to 35 years in prison.

Turner, 24, was convicted on Friday of injury to a child in the case of 5-year-old Julian Soliz. Julian, a kindergartner at Wells Branch Elementary, was found dead in the tall grass of a Wells Branch yard on April 10, 2010.

Prosecutors say Turner, who was the girlfriend of Julian’s father, beat the boy so badly that he died of internal bleeding.

Update: After about 2 hours and 20 minutes of deliberation, the jury has reached a decision. The courtroom is waiting for Turner, who is in custody, to return to the defense table. The jury is not in the room.

Update: The jury is now deliberating.

Kyle Collins, Turner’s lawyer, tried to convince the jury that his client deserves probation. She cared for Julian when his mother and father abandoned him, he said. She took him to school, fed him and loved him, he stated, when no one else would.

Prosecutor Victoria Winkeler, however, argued that Turner deserved no less than 25 years. Turner, she said, didn’t care for him well and beat the boy. If she was overwhelmed, she should have called Child Protective Services.

Instead, Winkeler said, Turner took her frustrations with her boyfriend (Julian’s father) on Julian.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Sentencing-trial-begins-for-Nichole-Turner-147595785.html
Nichole Turner sentenced to 35 years in 5-year-old's death
April 16, 2012

AUSTIN -- A Travis County jury has sentenced a woman in connection to the death of a five-year-old boy.

Turner, 24, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. She faced a life sentence.
Turner walked in to Judge Jim Coronado’s courtroom Monday morning showing little emotion. In the benches behind her sat family and friends.
 
Across the courtroom sat the victim’s family. They lined the benches behind prosecutors.
Last Friday the jury found Turner guilty of injury to a child. Julian Soliz, 5, died while in her care.
 
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In their opening statement Monday morning, prosecutors asked the jury to consider a punishment that starts at 25 years. They didn't call any witness but introduced all the same evidence used in the trial last week.
 
Turner's lawyer urged the jury to consider probation. He called several of Turner's previous co-workers, a neighbor and her grandmother, Gracie Turner. They described a woman who always smiled, worked hard and never got in trouble but got mixed up with the wrong man. Julian was her ex-boyfriend's son.
 
"I think Nichole should be given another chance," said her grandmother. “In my heart I know that she’s not guilty.”
 
Turner’s lawyer said she simply failed in trying to help care for her boyfriend's son. They urged the jury to consider how likely Turner is to re-offend.

Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

Nichole Turner got off very lightly imo.  I wondered how much time she'll realistically serve, and it appears she has to serve at least half before considered for probation, and gets credit for any jail time served before the trial took place.  I cannot believe her attorney wanted to consider probation and her sentence was "a little severe", and so he's appealing.  What's a 5 year old's life worth?  Beating to death a 5 year old boy is a little severe too!  And her grandma that thinks Nichole Turner "should be given another chance", well, it's too bad there's no more chances for Julian!  It doesn't matter if she attended church and worked hard, if she also beat an innocent child to death in her anger.  As far as chances for her re-offending, which means beating another child to death?  No seconds chances, no do overs.  You beat one child to death, you go to prison.  No probation, no second chance, not even if you go to church every Sunday and work your fingers to the bone.  Poor little Julian.  I keep seeing adults failing children over and over and over.  And yes, his Dad has some responsibility in where he was being cared for too and for failing to keep tabs on his own son.  JMHO

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/nichole-turner-faces-life-in-prison
35 years in prison for child's death
Jury weighs sentence in death of 5-year-old
April 16, 2012

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Travis County jurors made a unanimous decision Monday and sentenced Nichole Turner, 24, to 35 years in prison in the death of 5-year-old Julian Soliz.

Judge Jim Coronado of the 427th Criminal District Court said she would not be eligible for parole until she has served at least half of the years of the sentence. She will get credit for any jail time served before the trial took place, he said.

The boy died while in Turner's care in April 2010. Her conviction, which was followed by an emotional outburst from the crowd, came on Friday after the jury deliberated for about 90 minutes.

Turner's attorney, Kyle Collins, said the punishment was "a little severe." He said he plans to file an appeal.
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[KittyMom]

Let's hope the prison environment doles out the punishment she richly deserves.

[cookie]

Let's hope the prison environment doles out the punishment she richly deserves.

 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/turner-gets-35-years-for-death-of-5-2308941.html
Turner gets 35 years for death of 5-year-old boy
By Andrea Ball
April 17, 2012

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Turner, 24, had been involved with Julian's father, Leonard Soliz, off and on since 2006. In February 2010, the pair moved into a Wells Branch-area apartment with their 7-month-old son, Julian and Turner's 5-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

But by March, Soliz had stopped coming home. He did not return for Julian, and Salazar was not involved in his life. That left Julian in the sole care of Turner.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed Turner as a desperate woman who was struggling to pay the bills and who took her frustrations out on Julian.

"That's what it all boils down to," prosecutor Victoria Winkeler told jurors Monday during the sentencing phase of the trial.

Prosecutors said that Turner was behind the black eye and broken collarbone Julian suffered in March 2010.

Turner also admitted to detectives that she beat Julian with a belt and her hands in the days preceding the child's death, according to testimony.

Throughout the trial, defense attorney Kyle Collins pointed out multiple facts that he argued conflicted with the prosecution's case. A hair found on Julian's body could not conclusively be matched to Turner. Surveillance video showed that Turner's car had not moved the night Julian disappeared and only left the apartment complex at the time she says she was looking for him. Additionally, Turner's 7-year-old daughter told jurors that she saw two people carry Julian off the night he disappeared.

Prosecutors say Turner wasn't looking for Julian — she was dumping his body. And Turner's daughter, who was 5 at the time of the incident, has told multiple stories about that night, Winkeler said.
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