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Posted: 4:47 PM- Rebecca Hernandez-Velasco pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of second-degree felony child-abuse homicide in connection with the ice-water death of her 9-year-old brother at The Melting Pot restaurant last year.
Hernandez-Velasco originally was charged with first-degree felony murder for the July 7, 2007, hypothermia death of 9-year-old Josue Contreras-Velasco.
The 20-year-old woman on Monday also pleaded guilty to second-degree felony obstructing justice. A count of child abuse was dismissed.
She admitted carrying buckets of ice and water to fill a large trash container, in which the boy was immersed as a form of punishment.
But defense attorney Solomon Chacon claimed Hernandez-Velasco, a prep cook at the restaurant, was acting under orders from her boss and co-defendant 36-year-old Pedro Gaucin-Canales.
Gaucin-Canales is set for trial next Monday on charges of murder, obstructing justice and child abuse. Hernandez-Velasco is slated to testify against him, attorneys said.
Hernandez-Velasco faces up to 30 years in prison when she is sentenced Oct. 31.
According to charging documents, the boy died of hypothermia after being immersed in a trash container filled with ice water for about 45 minutes as a disciplinary measure.
After finding the boy unconscious, the defendants dressed the boy and claimed no knowledge of how he died, police testified at a November preliminary hearing.
They changed their stories two days later after being informed of the boy's body temperature, which measured at 78.6 degrees about three hours after his death was reported.
Police said each defendant blamed the other for initiating the discipline.