FILLMORE : 2 Plead Not Guilty in Death of Child, 3
A Reno couple have pleaded not guilty in the beating death of their 3-year-old daughter, whose body was discovered after it was thrown off a steep hillside into a canyon near Fillmore.
The plea comes despite an admission by the child’s stepfather to Reno police late last week that the child died June 15 after he had beaten her. The child’s parents may soon be facing a capital punishment case, said Dave Stanton, Reno’s supervising deputy district attorney and prosecutor in the case.
He said the district attorney may seek the death penalty for Carlos Perez Gutierrez and Tara Ray Gutierrez. “There are facts that establish what I call aggravating circumstances, which make (the case) fall within the parameters of a potential capital case,” Stanton said.
Ventura County sheriff’s deputies and Reno police found the body of Mailin Thao Stafford below Grimes Canyon Road between Fillmore and Moorpark on Saturday morning.
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