The family of an abused 4-year-old found dead from bite marks purportedly inflicted by her mom's teenage boyfriend announced she would be donating her organs as a final act of heroism.
Octavia Aquino was pronounced dead at the hospital Sunday, two days after she was found unresponsive at the Evansville, Indiana, home she shared with her mother, her mother's underage boyfriend, and three other female roommates, according to police.
A roommate told investigators she noticed Octavia had bruises on her body Thursday night, specifically around her neck area. She also had a human bite mark on her forearm.
Sixteen-year-old boyfriend Christian T. Gonzalez allegedly admitted to detectives he bit Octavia, "but only after she bit him first," said police.
Following the attack, the little girl appeared to be "staring off and was nauseous" before being found unresponsive the next day while her mother was at work.
Gonzalez was charged with murder upon Octavia's death over the weekend.
The girl's mom, Destiny Rhoades, 23, has been charged with felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death, in connection with the fatal incident.
Earlier this week, Octavia's family announced she would be donating her organs in her last valiant gesture during her seemingly short life.
"We have decided to let her be an organ donor," Octavia's grandmother, Linda Alvarez, said, according to WDBJ-TV. "She can be a hero and save another child, and live on through them."
As medical staff pushed the little girl through the hospital while she lay unconscious in her bed during her honor walk Tuesday night, Alvarez said her hope was for her granddaughter to be "remembered as just an innocent sweet little, helpless girl who she brought joy to everyone she met. You didn't have to know her to love her," WPTA-TV reported.
"We figured that she could be a miracle for someone else," added Alvarez. "Let her live on."
