Judge: Killer Mom Can't Visit Daughter
Repo...@school.com
York
Daily News newspaper:
Judge: Killer Mom Can't Visit Daughter
By HELEN PETERSON
Daily News Staff Writer
A woman who held onto her little girl's hands as her boyfriend
suffocated the
child now wants to be reunited with another daughter, the Daily News has
learned.
Denise Solero shocked the city when she described the Dec. 31, 1995,
death of
her 8-year-old daughter, Justina Morales, at the hands of a live-in
boyfriend.
Because of a plea deal she struck with prosecutors, Solero got five
years
probation for her role in the slaying, but was forbidden to have any
contact
with her two surviving children.
Solero — who has a new job and a new last name, Forbes— now wants
supervised
visits with her 2-year-old daughter, Sierra, who is living with Solero's
sister.
Parents need to spend time with their children, a lawyer for Solero
pleaded
last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court, saying it would be in the interest
of the
mother and her toddler to spend time together.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Joseph Bruno, however, disagreed with
attorney
Samantha Laventhol, saying there's no chance for a mother-daughter
reunion this
year.
"At this point, I see no basis to allow her to visit with any child,
particularly her own child," Bruno said.
"It may be disappointing, but should not be a surprise that this is my
position," he added.
Solero, 31, dressed in a black suit, sat with her hands clasped during
the
brief hearing. She refused to comment afterward.
The judge did, however, commend Solero for complying with the
requirements of
her intensive probation.
Another Solero lawyer, Michael Dowd, said she is working in theater
management.
"We are saddened that the judge didn't grant the application," he said.
"I still believe that whatever Denise Solero did, she did as a severely
abused
person in a relationship," he said. "Only time is going to tell us where
she is
going to be in the future."
Solero was to be the star witness against her ex-boyfriend and
daughter's
killer, Luis Santiago, 24.
She exploded on the witness stand during Santiago's trial, saying she
never
told anyone about Justina's slaying because she didn't want to take the
"whole
heat" herself.
She detailed the horrific final moments of Justina's life, describing
the
child's struggle to live, and the penetrating gaze she gave her mother
as
Santiago wrapped her mouth and nose with duct tape.
"I just held my little girl's hands. That's all I did," Solero
testified.
Santiago was convicted of manslaughter by jurors, who concluded Solero
had lied
to receive a lighter sentence.
Justina's disappearance for more than a year went unnoticed by school
authorities, sparking reforms in the tracking of truant children.
Original Publication Date: 03/07/1999