A woman pleaded guilty to helping her ex-boyfriend dispose of her daughter's body after he allegedly tried to drown the 8-year-old girl in a bathtub and then beat her with a steel rod.
Denise Solero, 29, struck a deal to testify against ex-boyfriend Luis Santiago and pleaded guilty Monday to hindering prosecution. She faces two years' probation. Santiago, 24, has been charged with murder.With Solero watching, Santiago submerged Justina Morales in a bathtub and then beat her with a steel rod, police said. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said Justina's body was wrapped in plastic and dumped in a vacant lot. It has not been found.
Authorities are investigating the possibility that sanitation workers may have taken the body to a landfill, said sources in Hynes' office.
Santiago allegedly threatened to kill Solero if she talked about the killing. She kept silent for more than a year and fled to a women's shelter after telling the story to a friend, who notified police.
In Monday's court appearance, Solero said she helped dispose of the body and did not report the death. She was released and will be sentenced April 9.
The case has prompted an investigation of how child welfare officials failed to notice that Justina had disappeared. She left one school but never reported to another.