12-18-07
Police arrested two Colorado teenagers in the beating death of a 7-year-old girl, one of whom’ was the girls’ older sister. Authorities say the deadly assault occurred because the teens were simulating fight moves from the video game ‘Mortal Combat.’

Sixteen-year-old Heather Trujillo was babysitting 7-year-old Zoe Garcia on December 6, 2007, the night she died. Heather’s boyfriend, 17-year-old Lamar Roberts, was also in the house. Police allege that the two hit, kicked, and body slammed Zoe while playing the game Mortal Combat and acting out the scenes in the video game with Zoe. Afterwards, Zoe complained about not feeling well.

According to reports, Heather put the little girl to bed. She later checked up on her and found the child not breathing. They allegedly put her in the bath-tub in an attempt to revive her, and temporarily did. But she stopped breathing again, and the teens called 911 for help.

Police responded to the call in Johnstown, Colorado, and found Zoe not breathing. Sadly, paramedics were not able to revive her. She was pronounced dead later that night at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.

The Weld County coroner’s office later ruled the death a homicide, saying that Zoe died of blunt force injuries. Police arrested the two teenagers on December 18’Th, 12 days after the death. The pair has each been charged as adults in the case. They face counts of child abuse resulting in death. Each remained in custody at the time on $100,000 bail.

Social services had been called to the home where Zoe lived once before, after a teacher reported a suspicious bruise on the little girl. The caseworker determined the bruise was from playing, and the allegation was thrown out. The mother of both girls, Dana Trujillo, also had two younger twins living in the house. Weld county social services took custody of the remaining two children following the incident. With one child dead, another in jail for her murder, and two others taken away, it’s fair to say that this mother and her family have been completely torn apart by the
incident.

Following the high-publicity case, Zoe’s father, who had not seen his daughter in more than 3 years according to media reports, emerged from the abyss threatening to sue Weld County’s Social Services, saying that they should have prevented his daughter’s death. He claims he was working to try and get custody of Zoe. But given his apparent lack of interest in the child’s life for the previous three years, one must wonder exactly how much he was actually trying.

We’ll give these teens the benefit of doubt and say that they most likely didn’t intentionally beat this little girl to death. It just goes to show how careful you have to be when rough-housing with little kids. Sometimes a seemingly benign blow can cause an internal injury that leads to death. Always take complaints from children after a potential injury seriously, and seek medical attention immediately if a child is acting strangely or complaining of nausea or dizziness. It’s better safe than dead.