Murder Charges Filed in Death of 9-Year-Old Boy

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Two restaurant workers have been charged with the death of a child who was soaked in a trash can of icy water, Salt Lake County prosecutors said.

Pedro Gaucin-Canales, 35, and Rebecca Hernandez-Velasco, 19, are both charged with first-degree felony murder, according to documents filed Friday in 3rd District Court.

Prosecutors allege the pair, who were both kitchen workers at the downtown Melting Pot restaurant, placed the naked 9-year-old boy in a trash can of ice and water as a disciplinary measure Sunday. Court papers say the boy, who is identified only as J.C., was left there for 45 minutes.

When the boy became unresponsive he was placed in warm water, a report filed at the Salt Lake County Jail said.

Paramedics who pronounced the boy dead found he had a body temperature of just 76 degree -- 22 degrees below normal, according to the report.

The child was Hernandez-Velasco's younger brother. Both Gaucin-Canales and Hernandez-Velasco were being held on $100,000 bail in the county jail. It was not known if either has an attorney.

First-degree felony murder is punishable by a prison sentence of 15 years-to-life.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1546537#