Attorneys spar over admission of evidence in case of toddler's fentanyl overdose in Colorado Springs

Zachary Dupont, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
·3 min read

Nov. 16—The attorneys for the Colorado Springs couple accused of allowing their 15-month-old child to die of a fentanyl overdose appeared in court on Wednesday to discuss the admission of certain evidence ahead of their December jury trial.

Joenny Manuel Astacio Ottenwalder, 36, and Kira Lee Villalba, 29, are charged with child abuse causing death in connection with the overdose of Cairo Astacio, who died in November 2021.

The attorney for Villalba, Jason Tiplitz, filed several motions regarding the admissibility of interviews conducted by Colorado Springs police with Villalba at the hospital the night Cairo died.

The court heard from two officers who spoke to Villalba that night.

Tiplitz alleged that his client's rights were violated and that Villalba was being treated as if she were in custody despite officers not reading her Miranda rights to her and not placing her under arrest.

Tiplitz also asserted that police violated his client's rights by confiscating Villalba's phone without a proper search warrant and keeping it in evidence for about three months.

For these alleged violations of his client's rights, Tiplitz put forward a motion to have all of the interviews conducted at the hospital, as well as the cellphone data, be inadmissible at trial.

The prosecution argued that at no point did police force Villalba to remain at the hospital, and pointed to the fact that both officers who testified said they didn't consider either Villalba or Ottenwalder a suspect at the time, and were just trying to figure out what had happened to Cairo.

After hearing arguments from both parties, Judge Laura Findorff denied the motion put forward by the defense. Findorff said at no point did police force Villalba to stay, she was given "several" breaks during the interview at the hospital and that she returned to the interview voluntarily after those breaks.

Will Cook, the defense attorney for Ottenwalder, did not partake in the motion put forward by Tiplitz.

Following the denial of the motion, Findorff asked the attorneys if they were ready to proceed with the jury trial, which is slated to begin Dec. 5.

Both Tiplitz and Cook expressed hesitancy in declaring they were ready for trial due to the prosecution submitting over 2,500 pages of discovery to each defense attorney earlier that day.

Both attorneys said they hadn't had time to review the discovery yet and weren't comfortable declaring they were ready for trial, even if all the discovery being submitted by the prosecution on Wednesday had previously been disclosed, which is what prosecuting attorney Brien Cecil told the court.

To allow the attorneys time to review the evidence, Findorff said they would reconvene on Friday to determine readiness for trial. Cook said earlier in the hearing that he and his client would be ready for trial if no new evidence is found in the discovery.

In addition to charges relating to the death of Cairo, the couple also face a Feb. 6 trial on charges that they provided fentanyl to a 13-year-old girl who overdosed, but survived, on two separate occasions.

Ottenwalder and Villalba are being held in El Paso County jail — Ottenwalder on a $275,000 bond and Villalba on a $175,000 bond in total between the two cases.