SAGE ARAGON - 11 yo (2008) - Boise ID

Eleven-year-old Sage Aragon and her older brother set out in the snow
on Christmas Day, hiking along a frigid, desolate stretch of Idaho
highway on their way to their mother's house.

Sage would never make it, and Bear would eventually turn up alone at a rest area.

A jury is expected to convene this week to consider whether their
father, Robert Aragon, should be held responsible for her death and the
hypothermia Bear, who was then 12, suffered.

The case garnered
national attention, angering parents and prompting outpourings of both
outrage and support from the community for Aragon, a 56-year-old single
father who earned $12 an hour spreading manure and was raising Sage and
Bear on his own.

Aragon was driving his children to see their
mother when his 1988 Buick Century got stuck in a snowdrift and the
roads, police say, became impassable last December.

The prosecution says Aragon then left the children to walk the remaining 10 miles to their mother's alone.

The defense says Aragon was a hardworking father who, when his children
pleaded to see their mother for the holidays, gave in and would have
never knowingly put them in harm's path.

Aragon has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and felony injury to a child.

Sometime after the children began walking, Aragon was able to free his
car from the snow and drive back to Jerome. Then the children's mother
called to say the kids never arrived. When authorities found Aragon
about 10 p.m., he was searching for the children at the site where the
car had become stranded.

A search and rescue team soon found
the boy at a rest area near the highway, about 4.5 miles from where the
children started walking. Bear was delusional from the cold and had
discarded his jacket and pants, stripping down to his long underwear
and taking off his tennis shoes.

Sage walked about four miles
with her brother. He told police that Sage turned back when she could
go no farther. A search dog found her about 2.7 miles from where the
two set out, barely visible under windblown snow. She was wearing a
brown down coat, black shirt, pink pajama pants and tan snowboots.

Temperatures in the area at the time Sage was missing ranged from 27
degrees above zero to minus 5, winds were blowing up to 25 mph with
snow and ice — conditions a local florist described days later as
"razor blades on your skin."

Fifth District Court Judge G.
Richard Bevan signed an order Thursday sealing both the list of
witnesses and evidence to be presented at the trial.

The
prosecution will be able to use a video to depict the road where Sage
died and recorded testimony from a deputy who was supposed to narrate
the scene during trial and describe the search for the children. Deputy
Josh Eggleston, a key witness who died in a July car accident,
testified during a preliminary hearing.

About two weeks before
facing trial in the death of his daughter, Aragon attended a court
hearing in Shoshone. He made small talk with a deputy before the
pretrial conference began, said he was working mostly, trying to pass
the time.

He faces up to a decade in prison for involuntary
manslaughter, and up to another 10 years for felony injury to a child.

The brother of a girl who died of hypothermia said Thursday that their
father warned them to stay together, be careful and avoid nearby farm
fields before the children set out to trek several miles to their
mother's house last Christmas Day.
Bear Aragon, 13, testified in the trial of his father, Robert Aragon,
who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony injury to a
child. The 56-year-old laborer is accused of allowing his 11-year-old
daughter, Sage, and Bear walk 10 miles in freezing conditions after his
car got stuck in a snowdrift.
Sometime after the two started walking, Sage turned around and started hiking back toward the car, Bear testified.
"She got too cold," he said. "Her feet were starting to get numb."
Sage died of hypothermia and rescuers found her body the next day.
Bear, then 12, survived by taking cover in a single-stall restroom at a
recreation site.
The boy, who a family member testified has been attending weekly
counseling sessions since his sister died, was the prosecution's final
witness against Aragon.
The defense rested Thursday after examining a handful of witnesses
before a jury of eight women and four men in rural Lincoln County. Both
sides were expected to present closing arguments Friday, when the case
will be handed over to the jury to deliberate.
Aragon was driving the children to see their mother on Christmas
Day morning when the car hit ice and slid into the snow bank, Bear
testified. His father got out of the car and used a small military
shovel to dig the his 1988 Buick Century free from the snow.
The boy said he decided to set out on his own and walk because he
wanted to find help for his father. Sage decided to go with him.
"He said 'OK, stay together and don't go into the fields,'" Bear testified.
After Sage and Bear began walking, Aragon freed his car from the
snowdrift and drove back to their home in Jerome. The children's mother
called later to say the children never arrived.
When authorities found the father about 10 p.m. that night, he was
searching for the children at the site where the car had become
stranded.
A search and rescue team soon found the boy at a rest area near the
highway, more than 4 miles from where the children started walking,
alone.
A search dog found Sage's body the next morning, barely visible
under windblown snow. She was wearing a brown down coat, a black shirt,
pink pajama pants and tan snow boots.
Teressa Aragon, a Jerome resident and half-sister to the children,
was among witnesses for the defensewho testified that Aragon was a good
father that worked hard to support his family and had custody of the
children since after they enrolled in elementary school.
Sage and Bear wanted to see their mother for the holidays, she said,
and she understood how Aragon might have been persuaded to let them
hike the rest of their way on their own.
"Just being excited to see their mom, I can see something like that happening," she said.
While a number of defense witnesses also testified to Aragon's good
nature, Lincoln County Prosecutor E. Scott Paul said they were not
there when the children embarked on hike along the desolate stretch of
road in the snow-covered desert.
Public defender Patrick McMillen argued that the weather didn't
worsen until after the children started walking and that Aragon did not
knowingly put Sage and Bear in harm's way.
Temperatures in the area at the time the girl was missing ranged
from 27 degrees above zero to minus 5. Winds were blowing up to 25 mph
with snow and ice.

An Idaho man who let his 11-year-old daughter walk several miles in
freezing conditions along an isolated rural highway on Christmas Day
was acquitted Friday of involuntary manslaughter in the girl's death
from hypothermia.Robert Aragon was also found not guilty of
felony injury to a child after the jury of seven women and five men
deliberated for about two hours.Aragon declined to comment after
he left the courtroom with family members including his adult daughter,
Teressa, who sat with the children's' mother and cried as the court
clerk read the verdict.Aragon was accused of letting his
11-year-old daughter, Sage, and his 12-year-old son, Bear, walk after
his car got stuck in a snow drift.The children lived with Aragon
in Jerome, a tiny community located in the heart of the Idaho dairy
industry. He was driving them to see their mother on Christmas Day
morning when the car hit ice and slid into the snow bank.Bear
Aragon said he decided to set out on his own and walk because he wanted
to find help for his father, and said his sister decided to go with him.The
boy survived after taking shelter in a single-stall restroom. Sage's
body was found early the next morning curled up by a barbed wire fence,
covered in snow.Jurors began deliberating on Friday morning and
sat somber as the verdict was read. They quickly filed out of the
courtroom, declining to comment, after they were dismissed.The prosecutor and defense attorney in the case both declined to comment, as did the children's mother, JoLeta Jenks.Temperatures
in the area at the time the girl was missing ranged from 27 degrees
above zero to minus 5. Winds were blowing up to 25 mph with snow and
ice."Sage froze to death, alone, in the horrible weather as a
result of the defendants' decision," Lincoln County Prosecutor E. Scott
Paul told jurors before they deliberated.Paul said Aragon was "supposed to protect his children and he failed."Public
defender Patrick McMillen described how Aragon spent between two to
three hours digging his car out of the snow after it got stuck, while
the children sat in the back seat.It was the boy, Bear, who
decided to start walking, McMillen said, and Aragon was likely
suffering from hypothermia, which causes confusion and poor judgment.McMillen
detailed how the children were bounding with energy when they left the
car and stopped to make snow angels along the road."There's a difference between a tragedy and a felony," McMillen told jurors."There
is no one in this courtroom who feels worse about Sage's death than
that man," he said pointing at Aragon, who kept his head down through
most of the proceedings.