Daughter Dies of Hypothermia, Father Charged With Murder

An Iowa man, allowed his children to walk toward their mother's house on Christmas Eve, after his car got stuck in the snow. One child died of hypothermia, and the father was charged with murder.

Robert Aragon, 55, of Jerome, Idaho, was driving his children to their mother's house on Christmas Eve, when his truck got stuck in the snow. He let his daughter Sage, 11, and her brother Bear 12, walk toward their mother's house, which was about ten miles away, while he and another man tried to free the truck from the snow. During the walk, the children became cold and disagreed on a solution. Bear wanted to continue walking toward their mother's house in West Magic, but Sage insisted on turning back. Bear made it to a rest area, where he was assisted and given medical help for hypothermia. Sage died on the road side. The children's mother, JoLeta Jenks, said she called Aragon because she was concerned after no one arrived at her home on Thursday. Jenks called the police and a Blaine County search and rescue team found the boy at a rest area near the highway shortly before 10 p.m. on Thursday night. The rest area was about 4.5 miles from where the children started walking. Robert Aragon was arrested, and held in the Blain County Jail until he was arraigned on Monday, December 28, charged with second-degree murder and felony injury to a child. The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison. Aragon is currently being held on a $500,000 bond. The presiding judge, Mark Ingram, refused to lower the bond at the request of the public defender who represented Aragon. An emotional Aragon repeatedly banged his head on the table in response to the court proceedings. The test for releasing a person charged with a criminal offense is whether or not they are a flight risk and whether or not they are likely to harm someone. It is unlikely that Aragon could or would flee, or that he would expose another child to freezing temperatures, nevertheless he is being held on a bond that is beyond his ability to pay. By contrast, Joseph Edward Duncan III was allowed to make bail after he had been charged with molesting a child and attempted molestation of a child in Minnesota. He was freed on bond and fled. He evaded arrest long enough to murder three members of a family before abducting two children from that family, raping and torturing the children, ultimately killing one of them. While Robert Aragon may not have perfect parenting skills, he's not a murderer, of any degree, and he should have been released without a bond. Subsequent to Aragon's arrest, his cousin, Kenneth Quintana, 29, was arrested for second-degree murder, and felony injury to a child, because he was present in the car when the children were allowed to walk to their mother's house. Quintana also faces charges for drugs and drug paraphernalia that were in his possession when he was arrested. Quintana has a different story from the mother who claims to have called to determine what was delaying the arrival of the children. He says "they were supposed to meet the kids’ mother halfway along the way. However, their car got stuck in a snow drift near the intersection of Highway 75 and W. Magic Rd., about 10 miles away from their destination. It was decided that the kids should start walking towards their mother’s house, Kenneth would go back to the highway to get help and Robert would stay with the car." He ended by saying, "I just want everybody to know that Bob did not send his kids out to die - he didn’t. He didn’t even want to let them go, but the kids were confident, hell I was even confident in that she (the mother) was going to be there."