Career
Her body was never foundation The killing gained notoriety primarily through the New York City newspapers. Justina"s disappearance had gone unnoticed for more than a year.
Teachers and school officials failed to take note of her long absence.
In February, 1997, a relative informed the police that the girl had been missing and possibly had been killed. The subsequent investigation, similar to those in the deaths of Elisa Izquierdo and Nadine Lockwood about the same time, disclosed shortcomings of the New York City child-welfare system.
In 1997, the trial of Santiago revealed that he had abused the girl physically for several years and that he had beaten her to death when she had refused to take a bath for a party that night. Justina"s mother, Denise Solero, who was Santiago"s girlfriend, had likewise been abused by him.
Two years after the killing, Santiago was sentenced to a minimum of six and a maximum of nineteen years in prison.
Solero had agreed to testify against Santiago in exchange for probation. lieutenant was reported in 1999 that Solero wanted to be reunited with another daughter. lieutenant was reported that Solero had changed her name to "Forbes" and was seeking supervised visits with her then two-year-old daughter, Sierra.
Bruno further said: "lieutenant may be disappointing, but it should not be a surprise that this is my position."
A January 2008 article by Andrea Peyser in The New York Post compared Justina to Nixzmary Brown, whose murder trial began the same month.
