Second arrest in death of girl
A man who allegedly allowed his 11-year-old niece and 12-year-old nephew to attempt a 10-mile walk to their mother’s house on a frigid Christmas Day was arrested on a murder warrant Thursday in connection with the hypothermia death of the girl.
The warrant accuses Kenneth Quintana, 29, of second-degree murder and felony injury to a child, said Jerome County sheriff’s Deputy David Ursino. The children’s father, Robert Aragon, 55, was arrested this week and faces the same charges.
Aragon and Quintana had been driving the children to visit their mother when their 1988 Buick Century got stuck in a snowdrift on a desolate road. They allegedly allowed the children to attempt the trek on foot while they stayed to free the car. They eventually returned to Aragon’s hometown of Jerome.
Sage Aragon, 11, walked about four miles with her older brother, Bear, in subfreezing temperatures but turned back.
JoLeta Jenks, the children’s mother, has said she called Robert Aragon after the children failed to arrive.
She called 911 after learning the children were on foot, she said.
A search dog found Sage’s body, obscured by drifting snow, early Dec. 26 more than 2 1/2 miles from where she and her brother had set out. A preliminary autopsy indicated she died of hypothermia.
A search and rescue team found Bear at a rest stop shortly before 10 p.m. on Christmas night. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released.
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