Sacaton Woman Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Cover-Up Related to Death of Toddler

March 4, 2010 - PHOENIX—Alicia Manuel, 25, of Sacaton, Arizona, was sentenced here to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell for lying to police and attempting to thwart the investigation into abuse of her son by her girlfriend, Mercedes Howard. Howard pled guilty in August of 2008 to involuntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury in the death of Manuel’s son and was sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison.

The facts showed that on September 27, 2007, Manuel and her girlfriend, Mercedes Howard, were the caretakers of Manuel’s son. Howard became upset with the 3-year-old victim because he spit up on her. Manuel then watched as Howard began to batter and abuse the child. Manuel watched as Howard began pushing the victim into the shower where she and the victim eventually began a shower. Howard continued to be angry with the victim. She then angrily pushed the victim, who fell and hit his head on the bath tub. The toddler became unresponsive, limp, and died a short time later from the injury.

Manuel pled guilty to misprision of felony on November 3, 2009. The facts in support of this plea included that she helped Howard dress the victim so that the police would not see the bruises on the child. Manuel also lied to law enforcement about the offense and what she had seen. She lied about Howard’s involvement in the abuse of the child. Eventually, Manuel and Howard both admitted to what happened to the victim.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Gila River Police Department and the FBI. The prosecution was handled by Sharon Sexton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.