Mom Let Abusive Teen Boyfriend Murder Her 4-Year-Old Daughter

A mother will spend the next few decades. in prison after the teenager she was. dating killed her four-year-old. daughter. We are going to be sitting. down with Octavia Aquino's grandmother. to talk about the case's resolution. after more than a year of investigation, court hearings, and grief. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. This disturbing case out of Evansville, Indiana, has finally come to a. conclusion as the last suspect, the last.

defendant has pleaded guilty and now has. accepted her punishment from a. Vanderberg Superior Court judge. We have. been covering this case for more than a. year now. This is after authorities. arrested 24-year-old Destiny Rhodess and. her then 16-year-old lover, Christian. Gonzalez, in June of 2024. According to. Evansville police, Roads left her. four-year-old daughter, Octavia Quino, in Gonzalez's care, even after, by the. way, she learned he had abused her. And.

that was a terrible decision to make. A. medical examiner determined that Octavia. had blunt forced trauma to the head and. neck when she was rushed to a hospital. She was kept on life support for several. days and her biological father decided. to donate her organs so that other. people would have a better chance of. living a life. And she died on Father's. Day. By the way, the New York Post. reported that a father out of the Bronx. here in New York, Freddy Ramirez, father. to a young boy with autism, received.

Octavia's kidney. Saved his life. He had. been very sick. He was on dialysis. And. obviously you see Octavia has been. affecting people's lives even in her. death. Now I want to do a recap on this. case because it's very important to know. how we got here. So Roads had an. unofficial custody sharing agreement. with Octavia's father. But at this time. the four-year-old was living with her. mom and her mom's underage boyfriend. along with several other women in this. apartment out in Evansville. During a.

police interview, Roads admitted that. she would sometimes leave Octavia alone. with Gonzalez and that he would swat her. hand or take away her tablet as a form. of discipline. And when an unresponsive. Octavia was taken to the hospital on. June 14th, investigators went to the. apartment. They were looking for. Gonzalez and they found him hiding in a. bathroom. By the way, he told police his. name was Alex and that he was 20 years. old. That was a lie. and a background. check revealed he was Christian. Gonzalez, a teen reported missing from.

Fort Wayne. And police also discovered. that Roads had been arrested just a few. months before that for helping Gonzalez. escape from a juvenile detention. facility. A protective order was in. place to protect Gonzalez from Roads, but he was living with her. Now, police. interviewed the female roommates as. well, and one said that the day before. Octavia was found unresponsive, she came. downstairs and saw concerning marks on. this little girl's neck. And when she. asked Gonzalez about it, he said, "Oh, a. cat scratched her." This was more than a.

scratch, though. The roommate said she. saw bruising and even a human bite mark. on Octavia's arm. At one point, Octavia. was throwing up. So, the roommate took. her to the McDonald's where Roads had. been working. And the police report. states that Octavia herself told her mom. that Gonzalez had bitten her and placed. his hand over her mouth. So, she was. aware of what was going on. Now, Roads. reportedly came home, confronted. Gonzalez about what happened, but he. wouldn't admit to anything apparently.

And then she and the roommate decided to. lie and tell Gonzalez that there was a. camera in the living room that had. caught everything, right? You know, keep. him on notice, keep him on watch. And. then Gonzalez allegedly admitted to. biting Octavia on the arm because he. claims the four-year-old bit him first. This is according to a police report. And after all that, Roads ended up. leaving Octavia again in Gonzalez's. care. There was one time where she went. to get food, believed on the night of.

June 13th, and then again on June 14th. when she went to work. There were more. details that were revealed in police. reports that documented what Roads told. investigators. Quote, I confirmed that. Destiny had seen the injuries on the. victim's neck on June 13th. When I asked. Destiny about the injuries to the. victim's neck, she admitted that it. appeared that the male had most likely. grabbed her around the neck with his. hand. When asked why her daughter had. thrown up, she said that it was most. likely due to her being anxious. Destiny.

agrees that this could have been because. her daughter had just been strangled and. bit by the male. When I asked Destiny. why she had decided to leave her. daughter with the male after learning. about the prior abuse, she explained. that she did not believe anything bad. would happen because the male believed. there was a camera in the living room. When I asked Destiny why she didn't call. the police to report the abuse, she said. that she wanted to. She also stated that. she was worried about what would happen. to the male because he was only 16 years. old. She was concerned that he would be.

removed from her. She eventually. admitted that she was concerned that. either she or the male would get in. trouble. I asked if she was concerned. that the male would hurt the child. again. Destiny said because of this. incident, she told the male that he. needed to go back home. When I asked why. this discussion happened the night. before, she stated it was because of her. daughter. Destiny said she had tried to. get the male to go home several times, but that he was a quote very. manipulative child and she loved him as. quote a son. talking lawsuits here. You. know who, by the way, are experts in.

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with battery resulting in serious bodily. injury that was upgraded to felony. murder when Octavia died. And after a. trial back in January, a jury convicted. him. And since he was a minor, he wasn't. eligible for the death penalty. In fact, in sentencing documents, the court. addresses Gonzalez's age by saying, "Court finds mitigating circumstance to. be that the defendant was only 16 years. of age at the time of the offense. court. further finds that the aggravating. circumstances outweigh the mitigating. circumstance. Now, Gonzalez, he's. appealing his conviction. That appeal. was apparently filed in March of 2025.

within days of his sentencing. The. latest court record showed that an. entire transcript of Gonzalez's trial. has now been transferred to the appellet. court for review. But we have to talk. about Roads. So, Roads decided not to go. to trial. Instead, she entered a guilty. plea. Now, she originally had been. charged with contributing to the. delinquency of a minor where the child. commits the offense of murder, neglect. of a dependent, resulting in death, invasion of privacy, which appears to. have been connected to the order that. roads stay away from Gonzalez. But in.

the end, the contributing to the. delinquency of a minor and invasion of. privacy charges, they were dismissed in. exchange for roads pleading guilty to. the uh neglect charge. And according to. her sentencing paperwork, she was. sentenced on August 7th to 20 years in. prison plus 5 years probation. All. right, I am joined once again by Linda. Alvarez. This is Octavia's paternal. grandmother who if anybody's been. following us here on Sidebar knows that. we have had a number of conversations. We've spoken several times about how.

this case during the course of this case. and as as it's progressed. Linda, it is. so good to see you again. >> This is a major update. Um, do you feel. like you finally have a sense of. resolution? I don't want to say closure, but a sense of resolution now that both. of the guilty parties are in prison and. they are going to be in prison for quite. some time. >> Um, I do definitely for him. Um, I've. always had mixed feelings with with. Destiny because of the relationship we.

had. Um, it just it makes me sad, but. I'm glad that um. I I'm glad that it's over and we don't. have to continue to keep dealing with. the courts and everything else. Um, I think that. the the punishment that she received. I don't want to say is fair. I like um.

how I feel about the case uh you know. when it comes to her just differs from. everybody else. And I don't know I just. I can never really put it into words. Even when um I spoke at court, I had a. hard time like verbalizing exactly what. I wanted to say to her. I I had it like. all written down and thought I was just. so angry with her. And then when it came. to be the time to talk to her and stuff, like I just I couldn't say the things.

that I thought I was going to be able to. say. And so, um. yeah, I mean, like I said, I'm glad that. it's it's all said and done. I mean, I. feel like it'll never be closure. >> and and obviously nothing's going to. bring Octavia back. Um, what exactly did. you say in court? Uh, and what were you. hoping to say? >> Um, right after. um everything had happened, I had made.

this really long Facebook post that I. had posted to her page. and it was it was pretty hateful to say. the least. and it was just what I was. feeling at the time. And um I was just. having a hard time deciding what I. wanted to say to her. And so I printed. that out and I brought that with me. And. I also um I had wrote a poem. Um it was. called One Year Without Octavia.

And when um I think it was back on. Father's Day, um even though Father's. Day fell a day before technically the. year, she died on Father's Day. So. that's always going to be significant. for us. Um we had we did like a dove. release in honor of Octavia and I read. that poem and so I brought the poem with. me to court and I read it in court also. I started to read the other letter and I. just I kept getting fumbled with my. words and just feeling really bad with.

some of the things that was there. It. was really hard just seeing her there. and watching her cry and knowing what. was, you know, going to happen to her. for such a long time. And I just I just didn't have the heart. to to be mean to her because I loved her. so much. And. deep down I do. I still love her. you. know, she was like my daughter. And, you. know, I've said it before, I didn't just. lose Octavia, I lost her, too. So,

that's that's just something I've been. struggling with. I I understand. It's. it's such a complicated situation. Do do. you do you want to stay in touch with. her? I mean, do you want to visit her in. prison? Do you want to talk to her um in. prison? >> I don't know if I want to visit. >> I don't know if I want to visit her in. prison. Um, I have talked to her twice. since court. I um I did two video visits because I.

was able to just tell her how I felt and. how I was sorry that things are the way. that they were. and um to let her know cuz I I didn't. know if she knew or not. um that I had. given an ern of ashes to her dad at. court and so he would have them for when. she was released. You know, she had, you. know, that part of her daughter still at. least, you know, cuz I mean, it's her. child, too. She deserves to have that.

And um I don't know, we just kind of. just talked about old times and just fun. things we used to do. And I asked her if. she was scared and she said that she was. at peace and that she knew her daughter. would want her to live and survive and, you know, get better and have a better. life and do better things whenever she. did get out. >> You know, Linda Gonzalez decided to take.

his case to trial. Didn't work out well. for him. Um, Destiny chose to take a. plea deal. Um, didn't go to trial. What. was your reaction to that? >> Um, I was sad. I was sad. Um, I didn't know. I was kind. of confused cuz I the prosecutors. originally said that they weren't even. going to offer her a plea deal. So, it. kind of threw me off. And then, um,

I was kind of sad. I mean, I I knew that. if she went to trial that she would get. found guilty. I just didn't know like. how long she would get. And. you know what. bothers me is that. I' I've known Destiny like I've seen her. as a mom. I I've seen her as a person. and she's made some she's made some.

horrible mistakes like doing the things. that she did with with Christian and and. everything like there's there's no. excuse for any of that and I'm not. trying to make excuses for her because. what she did was wrong and she made poor. poor choices and decisions and you know. the outcome of it is losing my. granddaughter her daughter but um it was. just Um, I I. it was just kind of difficult because it.

was like set in stone instead of like. court not knowing what the judge was. going to give her and maybe being a. little bit more lenient on her since she. had already lost her daughter. So that I. guess, you know, it was a little hard. because it was like, okay, this is what. she's going to do. there's, you know, there's no like, okay, the judge will. have a little bit of mercy on her, like. this is what it is. >> Does she realize those mistakes? I mean,

obviously, she plead guilty, and there. could be a number of reasons why someone. would plead guilty, but does she realize. the the choices that she made led to. Octavia's death? Does she realize her. mistakes? >> She does. She she was telling me how I. mean she was telling me how stupid she. is and that she was sorry that you know. she didn't listen to me and that you. know she she apologized for lying and. and just I mean she was just she sounded.

sincere. I mean, I I can't know what's. in someone's heart, but hearing her and. just her voice and knowing her, I want. to believe that, you know, she she means. it and she said that she took the plea. deal and plead guilty because she knew. that. um that it was her fault. She knew that. she didn't. She said that she failed as. a mom and that she didn't protect her. daughter and that, you know, she.

she should have did better. She. shouldn't have had him around. She. should have listened to us. She should. have, you know, just a long list of. should have, should have, should have, and didn't didn't. You know, I I started this by talking to. you about this might be a sense of. resolution, legal resolution, but as we. reported earlier, Gonzalez immediately. appealed his case. And obviously, as. that makes its way to the the court. system, there's always a potential that, >> you know, conviction, a sentence could.

be overturned if you appeal, not a. guarantee. It's kind of an uphill. battle, but at the same time, how do you. feel about that? Um, knowing that that. part still continues? Um, to be honest, I'm not worried about. it. It was an ironclad um trial. It It's. what's the word? Customary or like it. it's just, you know, that's what they. do, you know, to file an appeal. But, I. mean, there's really nothing that, you.

know, they can say, "Oh, well, this. happened." And, you know, there's a. discrepancy. During the whole trial, there was one objection or two. objections. one was overruled and one. was sustained. So, I mean, there's really nothing that. they can argue. So, I mean, even the. prosecutor's not worried about them. getting, you know, the appeal. They. they're She says she's 99.9%. positive it would get um denied. >> Yeah. I mean, based on what I've seen, I.

I tend to agree. I don't really know. what the argument would be for an appeal. or what the arguments they they might. mount, but, you know, we'll wait and. see. Um, before I let you go, I want to. talk a little bit more about Octavia. Um, you've described her before. She. sounded like such a special little girl. I've seen videos. She She was. incredible, beautiful. And I reported. before that even in her death, she's. affecting people's lives. Her organs. were donated. She saved the life of a.

father in the Bronx. Her kidney was. donated. What can you tell us about. that? I mean, that's pretty incredible. Um, you know, even in her death, she's. helping people. >> Um, yeah. Um, it's been awesome. I've to. this day still been in contact with two. of the recipients. Um, the lady in. Wisconsin whose son received her heart. has sent me um like voice like memos.

with the heartbeat so I can hear it. Um. the the people in New York message me. often just asking how we're doing and. you know just give updates and I I get. to follow them and see like them you. know live their happy life and her live. on through them. So it's. it's sad that she's not here but it. brings a lot of joy knowing that she's. living on through others and others are. still here because of her. That's um it's difficult um to think.

about, but it's a beautiful thing to. also think about. Um Linda, you're a. very special person. We always uh. welcome talking to you and this door is. always open to continue the conversation. uh about the case about Octavia. Um. thank you so much for taking the time. really appreciate it and we are sending. nothing but well wishes to you, your. family and also let's extend it to all. the recipients um who are you know who. are who are living a new life because of.

Octavia. So thank you so much. >> Thank you Jesse. I appreciate you. >> and that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us and as always please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to. you next time. [Music].