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A jury has been selected for one of three suspects in the child abuse death of a Sebastian teen who allegedly was starved and abused.
Cameron County court records indicate the jury was selected Monday for 39-year-old Ruben Gonzalez Cordoba.
He is charged in a 10-count indictment with his girlfriend, 33-year-old Sabrina Loredo — the child’s mother — and Antonia Gonzalez, 56, the child’s grandmother.
They are charged with murder, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury-family violence, injury to a child and engaging in organized criminal activity.
The 14-year-old child was allegedly killed by his family on Jan. 23, 2021, in Willacy County.
All three cases were moved to Cameron County from Willacy County.
An initial call to the sheriff’s office came from Valley Baptist Medical Center personnel about the “possible sexual assault of a child, male,” the sheriff’s social media site reported at the time.
Willacy County Sheriff Joe Salazar’s office then began an investigation.
The arrests of the three family members rattled Willacy County residents and people across the Rio Grande Valley as reports of the death of the starving child came to light.
The 10-count indictment against each of the Sebastian family members lists numerous alleged offenses including murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, injury to a child, family violence, engaging in organized criminal activity, also not providing the boy enough to eat or drink, not providing medical attention, cutting him, slicing him, striking, kicking, burning, puncturing, scratching, offensively touching him with a belt or bow and arrow or unknown object, exposing him to injury from other people and animals, forcing him to perform manual labor, applying pressure to his body, allowing him to be assaulted and concealing him from anyone who might render emergency assistance.
