SAN ANTONIO – reporting can have helped the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office discover what they’re calling a technical factor that delayed indictments in a child death case for greater than a yr.
That is the most recent query in the case of 12-year-old Danilo Coles who investigators imagine was once killed by means of his father and stepmother, Derrick Coles and Kapri Cheatom.
Coles died in Feb. 2022 from accidents allegedly inflicted by means of Coles and Cheatom.
An arrest affidavit stated the couple allegedly made the boy grasp heavy packing containers over his head for lengthy classes of time and critically whipped him, inflicting inside bleeding.
Coles and Cheatom had been each arrested in February of 2022. Coles was once ultimately launched on bond, whilst Cheatom had her fees pushed aside in May of 2022 as a result of she was once no longer indicted inside of 90 days of her arrest — which is needed by means of state regulation.
On Aug. 28, puzzled the district legal professional’s office about why the case had but to be indicted.
In an interview, first assistant district legal professional Christian Henrickson stated that the case couldn’t transfer ahead till they were given the general file from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kimberley Molina couldn’t do an interview as a result of she has to testify in the case however Bexar County despatched the next remark on her behalf:
“The Medical Examiner’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office exchange documents using a software solution specific to the criminal justice system. Log entries in that system indicate that the District Attorney’s Office received the autopsy report earlier this year.”
in an instant reached out to the District Attorney’s Office soliciting for a follow-up interview with Henrickson. We had been informed he wasn’t to be had for an interview however the office despatched the next remark from Henrickson:
“Bexar County prosecutors are deeply committed to ensuring justice for victims of crime. The Bexar County Criminal District Attorney’s Office currently maintains the highest homicide conviction rate seen in Bexar County over the last twelve years. This success is in part due to the cooperative relationships the DA’s office has with partnering agencies.
The cooperative relationship between our office and the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has enabled us to discover technical issues in the sharing of information. These issues were recently highlighted in a case involving the death of Danilo Coles, where an autopsy report provided by the Medical Examiner’s Office as requested did not timely make its way into the files of each defendant in the case.
On our side, we are committed to correcting these technical issues and improving the efficiency of prosecution. We know that the Medical Examiner’s Office is committed to the same goals.
We look forward to ensuring justice in this and all other homicide cases prosecuted by our office.”
We requested for rationalization about why the technical factor was once undiscovered for goodbye and if there have been different instances suffering from it. The DA’s office has no longer spoke back.
On Monday, Coles was once in any case indicted on a price of harm to a child inflicting severe physically harm, however Cheatom was once no longer. In August, Henrickson informed that their instances could be introduced in combination to a grand jury, however in step with courtroom information, that procedure hasn’t came about for Cheatom.
Cheatom is these days no longer in prison or charged with any crime in the case.
Coles’ case will now move throughout the 437th District Court. His first courtroom look has no longer been scheduled but.
If he is going to trial and is located to blame, he’s dealing with as much as lifestyles in jail.
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