Trial for couple accused of causing toddler's fentanyl overdose in Colorado Springs pushed back to February
Nov. 18—The December jury trial for the Colorado Springs couple accused of allowing their 15-month-old child to die of a fentanyl overdose has been pushed back after defense council Friday said it was not ready for trial.
Joenny Manuel Astacio Ottenwalder, 36, and Kira Lee Villalba, 29, are charged with child abuse causing death in connection with the overdose of their son Cairo Astacio, who died in November 2021.
The attorneys for Ottenwalder and Villalba appeared in court earlier in the week, on Wednesday, to discuss the admissibility of some evidence in the trial that was originally scheduled to begin Dec. 5.
However, at the end of the hearing the defense attorneys told Judge Laura Findorff that they had received 2,500 pages of discovery from the prosecution and hadn't had time to review it, and thus, weren't ready to discuss trial readiness.
On Friday, the court ran into the unusual situation of Villalba's attorney Jason Tiplitz declaring his client wasn't ready for trial while Ottenwalder's attorney Will Cook declared his client was ready for trial. In addition to declaring not ready for trial, Tiplitz also informed the court that Villalba would be waiving her right to speedy trial as well.
The right to a speedy trial is the right someone has to have their trial take place within six months of their preliminary hearing.
The two cases of Ottenwalder and Villalba have been joined together by the court and must be heard together at trial.
To avoid complications, a new trial date was set for Feb. 6, 2023, which barely remains within the speedy trial time limit for both parties of Feb. 23. However, Findorff said that she will have to review case law and arguments from the attorneys on how to proceed if any parties declare they're not ready for trial at pre-trial readiness in January.
To make the new trial date work, the trial date for the couple's second case in which they face charges for allegedly providing fentanyl to a 13-year-old girl who overdosed but survived was pushed back Feb. 13.
Cook noted to the court that he had reviewed the 2,500 pages of discovery provided by the prosecution and it was all information that had been previously disclosed to the defense, the same claim of the prosecution on Wednesday.
Cook also challenged Ottenwalder's bond, but Findorff denied the request stating the bond was set as high as it was because of his previous criminal history and the danger to community he poses as a former drug dealer.
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.
The couple will next appear in court on Jan. 4, 2023, for a motions hearing connected to their second case.
