What to Know
- In 2016, detectives found four-month-old Hugo was inside of a freezer, along with a suicide note.
- Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
- The accused will likely face a jury by September.
The mother whose infant son in 2016 was found dead in a freezer is now facing a charge of first-degree premeditated murder.
In early 2016, Paola Vargas-Ortiz called 911 and said she was going to kill herself by jumping off from the Seven Mile Bridge in Monroe County.
Detectives later found four-month-old Hugo was inside of a freezer in a Homestead home, along with a suicide note Vargas-Ortiz wrote that read: "Sorry for all what I did. I will be punished," according to police.
Vargas-Ortiz first faced manslaughter charges and later second-degree murder charges but prosecutors once again changed the charges.
“The charges were changed from second-degree murder to first-degree premeditated murder," Miami-Dade Criminal Court Judge Alberto Milian said in court. "And, as I think I explained one time, if you’re convicted of that charge it’s a mandatory life sentence.”
Prosecutors do not have any plea offers on the table for Vargas-Ortiz. The next hearings will relate to text messages between Vargas-Ortiz and her husband the day before the child was killed.
Local
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty and Vargas-Ortiz will likely face a jury by September.
