Four years after her death, the Baby Favi trial begins this week. Here's what to know

It's been over four years since police first found Faviola Rodriguez, 2, dead in 2018, four years since police arrested and charged the mother's boyfriend with the killing, four years of legal battles that took the case to the New Mexico Supreme Court, and four years of news articles and television reports about the case.

But it's been four years of living in limbo for those involved.

Lalo Anthony Castrillo IV is charged with intentional abuse of a child, resulting in death and tampering with evidence. Castrillo, 28, could face life in prison if convicted on the child abuse charge.

The stakes are high for the family of Baby Favi as well. Baby Favi's mother, Saundra Gonzales, has worked to spread the memory of her baby across the world and pursued a conviction in the case despite numerous hurdles. Gonzales has been interviewed several times by regional publications and amassed a 16,000-person following on Facebook, where she posts about her baby's life.

But it may all come to an end this week.

On Monday, the court will work to set a jury and begin the trial with opening arguments from the two sides. Castrillo will be represented by Jose Coronado, who's been with Castrillo since the beginning of the case. Prosecutors, conversely, will field their sixth attorney in the matter, according to court records. Salvador Alejandro Guardiola, deputy district attorney, and Melissa Garcia, assistant district attorney, will argue for conviction.

Here's what to know ahead of the trial.

Here's why it's taken six years to get to trial

After Castrillo was arrested and charged in 2018, he or anyone involved in the case likley could not have anticipated it'd be 51 months and two trials before a resolution is reached. Coronado argued at a recent hearing that delay had violated Castrillo's constitutional right to a speedy trial.

In a motion and again in court this month, Coronado argued that prosecutors were responsible for just at least three years of delay. The first delays caused by prosecutors lasted from September 2018 to August 2020, Coronado said, adding these delays stemmed from the prosecutor's failure to disclose medical records, expert witnesses, discovery, and other court records.

"The (prosecutor's) failure to do either caused delays in presenting to the case for a jury trial," Coronado said in a motion. "The defense request for (delay) in this time was caused by (prosecutors) again failing to meet its disclosure responsibilities."

Guardiola pushed back on this claim, saying that Coronado's timeline was unfair and highlighting the role the COVID-19 pandemic played. In 2020, the courts held very few trials as they sought to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

But the largest delay – and the center of whether prosecutors violated Castrillo's rights – came from the first trial in 2021.

A second judge for a second trial

Long-time District Judge Douglas Driggers originally oversaw this case. After three years of hearings and continuances related to evidence disclosure and the pandemic, Driggers got the case into trial in August 2021. But at the 11th hour, a battle between Driggers and then-assistant district attorney Daniel Sewell derailed the case for years.

Driggers told Sewell, a long-time and well-respected prosecutor in Doña Ana County, to share a set of exhibits with the court before 5 p.m. on the Friday before the trial. According to a statement he made to the court, Sewell promised to do it but forgot, leaving the email in his drafts folder.

As punishment, Driggers banned Sewell and the prosecutor's office from presenting exhibits. That meant photos, reports, and other physical items could not be shown to the jury. Driggers argued the exhibits ban did not prevent Sewell from presenting a case since he had a slew of people ready to speak about what was in the exhibits.

Still, Sewell told Driggers his order went too far and requested the state Supreme Court to reverse the call.

As a jury was seated and opening arguments began, the Supreme Court ordered Dirggers to halt the trial. The high court decided they would review Driggers' conduct and determine if his ban would stand.

After oral arguments and months of deliberation, the Supreme Court reversed Driggers' exhibit ban and removed him from the case. They appointed Waylon Counts of the district court covering Otero County in his place. Counts has overseen the case since and will be the trial's judge.

Here's the allegations against Castrillo as outlined in the affidavit 

Shortly after 3 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2018, Las Cruces Police arrived at Saundra Gonzales and Lalo Anthony Castrillo's apartment. Police were responding to a call of a toddler lying on the floor and not breathing.

In court documents, Police said Castrillo made the call. As EMTs performed CPR on Faviola, police noticed bruising on the child's ribs and face. They deemed the bruises suspicious.

Around the same time, on-scene medical staff also expressed concern about the bruising to police. Faviola was taken to MountainView Regional Medical Center, according to court documents. Doctors and nurses attempted life-saving measures on Faviola for 40 minutes before pronouncing the 2-year-old deceased. Afterward, doctors told police that Faviola's bruises were not caused by the EMTs or hospital staff trying to save her life.

Faviola's mother, Gonzales, worked a graveyard shift during the incident. She left her then-boyfriend, Castrillo, to babysit. While at work, Gonzales told police she received calls and texts from Castrillo that went unanswered. She said she was busy working, but Castrillo's calls got through when he called Gonzales' work.

Castrillo told Gonzales that Faviola wasn't breathing, according to police. Police and EMTs had already arrived when Gonzales got home. According to the affidavit, Castrillo told police that Gonzales put Faviola to bed at around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2018. After Gonzales left for work, Castrillo stayed up for a while playing video games.

Around midnight, Castrillo said he got a call from Gonzales. She wanted to know how Faviola was doing. Castrillo told police he went into Faviola's room, noticed she was sleeping, and concluded the 2-year-old was doing fine.

After chatting with Gonzales, Castrillo told police he went straight to bed. He said a text message on his phone woke him up at about 3 a.m. When he went to check on Faviola, she was lying on the floor and not breathing.

What to expect this week

Castrillo is not likely to testify. His lawyer listed a former medical examiner from Georgia as the lone witness he intended to call. 

The medical examiner's background will likely come into question since he was removed from his position in Georgia after an investigation found he'd used his position as Georgia Medical Investigator to enrich his business. Castrillo's lawyer has asked the court to prevent prosecutors from bringing this up before the jury. 

Conversely, prosecutors plan to call several of Baby Favi's family members, including her mother, to testify. Police who investigated the incident, as well as forensic and records technicians, will also testify.

Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com.