“You are the lowest form of human life that I have been able to observe and see. You are a monster, and quite frankly, you are evil. What you did was sickening and disgusting. You should never be allowed out of prison.”
Judge Mark Trusock of the 17th District Court issued these harsh words to 25-year-old Elis Nelson Ortiz-Nieves of Gaines Township as he handed him a life sentence for the murder of 4-year-old Giovanni Mejias.
Last June, 4-year-old Giovanni Mejias was under Ortiz-Nieves’ care when he died of internal bleeding caused by blunt-force trauma. Examiners found cigarette burns on the boy’s body as well as evidence of previous abuse.
“With regards to the felony murder, it is the sentence of this court that you be committed to the Michigan Department of Corrections to serve the rest of your life without possibility of parole in the prison system. You will die in prison system.”
Ortiz-Nieves, originally claimed that he found the boy unresponsive and with a bloated stomach and hit him to relieve the pressure in the boy’s abdomen. Ortiz Nieves has told media that he intends to appeal.
Courtroom audio provided with permission by El Vocero Hispano
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