The grandmother of an abused 4-year-old who died after being found with bruises and bitemarks, says the girl's mother failed to protect her.
Linda Alvarez says she spent almost every day with her granddaughter, Octavia Aquino, at their home in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The longest they'd ever spent apart was when Octavia traveled down to Evansville to see her mother, Destiny Rhoades, she said.
Alvarez says her son, Octavia's father Brandon, had dropped the little girl off to her mother last Monday and said that the family was unaware that Christian Gonzalez, 16, would be at Rhoades' home.
Gonzalez, who is charged with murder, previously admitted to law enforcement that he had bit the child but only after "she bit him first."
"If we had known that he was even there, she never would've gone down there," said Octavia's uncle, Caleb Aquino told WFIE-TV.
Caleb alleges Gonzalez had hurt Octavia prior to the fatal incident.
Alvarez, who also has a 2-year-old grandson from her son Caleb, details the toll the tragic death has taken on their family.
"He kept saying, 'Daddy, when is Octavia coming over to play with me?' and we don't know how to explain that to a 2-year-old, that his cousin is not going to play with him anymore."
Octavia's family says they donated her organs to help save another child.
"We figured that she could be a miracle for someone else," Alvarez said to the TV station. "I just don't know what life is going to be like without her anymore."
Officers described the 4-year-old as being "cold to the touch" and with "very little brain activity" when they discovered her in the home.
"It's obvious that this was dealt to her by another human," said Evansville Police Officer Taylor Merriss.
Officials will perform an autopsy to determine how Octavia died.
Following an autopsy, the four-year-old will be transported back to Fort Wayne for burial.
The family has since set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.
