Trevor Rowe: Texas man who killed 10-month-old girl by stuffing her in backpack sentenced to life in prison
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LUBBOCK COUNTY, TEXAS: A Texas man charged with the murder of his girlfriend's 10-month-old child after he stuffed her in a backpack. He has been sentenced to life in prison on Friday, April 29. Trevor Marquis Rowe was charged with capital murder of a victim under 10 years of age, and he was taken into custody by Lubbock County officers in January 2020.
On Friday, Rowe was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to the murdering 10-month-old Marion Jester-Montoya. "It is my job to forgive, and God’s to judge. He was crying as I was talking to him, and we never broke eye contact," said the child's father Emilio Montoya, reported Law and Crime.
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Rowe left the backpack in the trunk of his car for hours
Rowe took Marion to his job site where he stuffed her in a backpack and placed her on his vehicle's floorboard and left her for hours while he went to work. According to investigators, at one point the girl tried to get out of the backpack and Rowe put her back inside. During lunch, he checked on Marion again and found that she was lightly crying but was still breathing. At the time, he went to two stores and a fast-food restaurant. He then put the backpack back in the car's trunk after he returned to the site. Rowe later determined that Marion had stopped breathing. He then performed CPR after he called 911. However, the child died before responding officers arrived. Rowe was taken into custody in 2018 after he was accused of leaving his two children unattended.
'She was actually learning to walk'
Remembering the 10-month-old girl, her father said she was an active child and "was actually learning to walk." Emilio and the mother had joint custody of the child. Katrina Montoya, the child’s aunt, said that if her brother had been able to retain sole custody of his daughter, she would still be alive.
Talking to NBC affiliate KCBD, the little girl's grandmother Sheilah Montoya said that she was planning Marion's first birthday party when the tragic death took place. "She wouldn’t be gone," said the child's aunt Katrina Montoya who stated that the 10-month-old would still be alive if her brother retained her sole custody.