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October 9, 2009 in Idaho
Jury acquits father in hypothermia death case
Robert Aragon reacts as he listens to testimony during his trial, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009, in Shoshone, Idaho. Aragon was acquitted Friday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of his 11-year-old daughter, who he let walk several miles in freezing conditions along an isolated rural highway on Christmas Day.
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SHOSHONE, Idaho — An Idaho man who let his 11-year-old daughter walk several miles in freezing conditions along an isolated rural highway on Christmas Day was acquitted Friday of involuntary manslaughter in the girl’s death from hypothermia.
Robert Aragon was also found not guilty of felony injury to a child after the jury of seven women and five men deliberated for about two hours.
Aragon declined to comment after he left the courtroom with family members including his adult daughter, Teressa, who sat with the children’s’ mother and cried as the court clerk read the verdict.
Aragon was accused of letting his 11-year-old daughter, Sage, and his 12-year-old son, Bear, walk after his car got stuck in a snow drift.
The children lived with Aragon in Jerome, a tiny community located in the heart of the Idaho dairy industry. He was driving them to see their mother on Christmas Day morning when the car hit ice and slid into the snow bank.
Bear Aragon said he decided to set out on his own and walk because he wanted to find help for his father, and said his sister decided to go with him.
The boy survived after taking shelter in a single-stall restroom. Sage’s body was found early the next morning curled up by a barbed wire fence, covered in snow.
Jurors began deliberating on Friday morning and sat somber as the verdict was read. They quickly filed out of the courtroom, declining to comment, after they were dismissed.
The prosecutor and defense attorney in the case both declined to comment, as did the children’s mother, JoLeta Jenks.
Temperatures in the area at the time the girl was missing ranged from 27 degrees above zero to minus 5. Winds were blowing up to 25 mph with snow and ice.
“Sage froze to death, alone, in the horrible weather as a result of the defendants’ decision,” Lincoln County Prosecutor E. Scott Paul told jurors before they deliberated.
Paul said Aragon was “supposed to protect his children and he failed.”
Public defender Patrick McMillen described how Aragon spent between two to three hours digging his car out of the snow after it got stuck, while the children sat in the back seat.
It was the boy, Bear, who decided to start walking, McMillen said, and Aragon was likely suffering from hypothermia, which causes confusion and poor judgment.
McMillen detailed how the children were bounding with energy when they left the car and stopped to make snow angels along the road.
“There’s a difference between a tragedy and a felony,” McMillen told jurors.
“There is no one in this courtroom who feels worse about Sage’s death than that man,” he said pointing at Aragon, who kept his head down through most of the proceedings.
© Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Shane0312 on October 09 at 9:06 p.m.
I can only imagine what the guy’s going through, but I still believe he should have gotten time for the child’s death. Some time behind bars would have really given him the time he needs to reflect on what he did and how his daughter will never know a full life. A kind of whoops it was an accident defense just doesnt sit well with me, thats the point of a manslaughter charge, through the negligence of your actions, someone loses their life. He is clearly guilty of that. Despite digging for 2-3 hours in the cold, which is may I point out, a decision he made well before hypothermia set in. This guy, after digging his car out of the snow, instead of going to make sure his children arrived at their mothers safely, actually turned around and headed home, unaware they never made it. Negligence that resulted in the death of a child, manslaughter.
opeled on October 10 at 2:46 p.m.
Sugar Shane on October 09 at 9:06 p.m.. This guy, after digging his car out of the snow, instead of going to make sure his children arrived at their mothers safely, actually turned around and headed home, unaware they never made it..
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sorry I cannot find that in this article anywhere.
after digging in the snow they were probably all suffering from hypothermia and as a result poor decisions were made…
I personally would not want the ghost of my daughter haunting me the rest of my life and that is punishment enough