JULIAN SALAZAR SOLIZ - 5 yo -(2010) Travis County TX

Travis County TX ---- Missing 5-year-old found dead

The Travis County sheriff's office said that a 5-year-old child who was
reported missing at 7 a.m. Saturday was found dead a few hours later.

Roger Wade, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said the child was
reportedly missing from apartments at 3501 Shoreline Drive since about 5:30 a.m.

Wade said that a body matching the caller's description of the child was
found about 10:15 a.m. Saturday in Wells Branch near Wells Port Cove. No other
details, including the gender or the name of the child, were released.

Wade said that detectives were at the scene and that officials were
waiting for word from the Travis County medical examiner's office to determine
the child's cause of death.

A child was found dead Saturday morning alongside a road in Travis
County. Sheriff’s say the body of a five year old was found lying in the
grass near the intersection of Wellsport Drive and Wellsport Cove.
The five year old was reported missing from the Estates at Shoreline
apartments located at 3501 Shoreline Drive around 7 a.m. Saturday
morning. Sheriff's investigators say the 5 year old had been missing
for two hours before they were called. Nearly 5 hours after the child
had disappeared, someone found the body near the intersection of
Wellsport Drive and Wellsport Cove lying in the grass- about a half
mile from the child's home. People who live at the apartment complex
were shocked to learn the news.
“Any child and any person that goes missing and found dead is very
heart wrenching and my prayers go out to the community and family,” said
Cathy Estrada.
“It's kind of scary because my niece stays over here and I don't want
her in this kind of environment,” said Jacquelyn Jackson.
Detectives are conducting interviews and waiting for the Medical
Examiner's office to determine the cause of death before they release
any information

A candle light vigil was held Sunday night in East Austin for 5 year
old Julian Salazar Soliz. The little boy was found dead Saturday morning
in someone’s front yard in North Travis County.
Julian's grandfather, Leonard Smith, says he wants justice.
“I want the individual whoever done this to my grand-baby to be
found,” he said. “He was five years old.”
Investigators say Julian disappeared 5:30 Saturday morning from the
Estates at Shoreline Apartments located in the 3500 block of Shoreline
Drive in Wells Branch. A female caregiver didn’t call Sheriff’s Deputies
until 7 a.m. Nearly five hours after he disappeared, Julian was found
dead at 10:15 a.m. near the intersection of Well Sport Drive and Wells
Port Cove.
Sunday afternoon family members brought flowers, crosses and a teddy
bear to the site where Julian’s body was found lying in the grass. They
prayed, mourned and remembered him.
They are trying to come to grips with the loss of an innocent child,
and seek answers into how and why he died.
Detectives are conducting interviews and waiting for the Medical
Examiner's office to determine the cause of death before they release
any information.

A Travis County family Monday waited to learn what killed a young
family member.
Deputies found the body of a little boy about half a mile from his
home Saturday morning.
There are still many questions surrounding the young boy's
death.
It’s unclear what happened to him -- how did he end up where he
was found and who is responsible.
Deputies say 5-year-old Julian Salazar Soliz disappeared Saturday
morning around 5:30.
Nearly two hours passed before a caretaker
reported him missing.
Deputies found him lying in the bushes. He was already dead.


Travis County sheriff’s detectives are noting that Julian's death is a
homicide,
but the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office has so far
not released its report.
Detectives say they are conducting interviews, collecting evidence
and working with the medical examiner's office, and they say they are
withholding certain details about the case.
In the meantime, Julian's family is mourning their loss.
They revisited the grassy land where deputies found the young boy's
body
Saturday morning, dropping off flowers, stuffed animals and
balloons.
“He was 5 years old. The kid was a loving individual.
My heart is not
mourning just for my grandson -- for my son. My son is my baby.
That's
the fruit of my body, and I need that individual to be found tonight,”
said Leonard Smith, the victim's grandfather.
On Sunday, family members waited until the sun fell before lighting
the sky
with candlelight while holding one another and crying for their
loss.
Family members tell us there will be a rosary in Julian's honor on
Wednesday
at Mission Funeral Home on Cesar Chavez. His funeral is
scheduled for Thursday morning.
Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 854-3245 or
CrimeStoppers at 472-TIPS.

Child Protective Services is conducting a separate investigation into
the death of a 5-year-old boy over the weekend, as the Travis County Sheriff’s
Office conducts its homicide investigation.
Julian Salazar Soliz disappeared Saturday morning from an apartment
complex on Shore Line Drive.
Deputies found his body a mile away near Wellsport Drive and Wellsport Cove in Wells Branch.
It is reported that the girlfriend of Julian's father was taking care of him when he disappeared.
Now the state has removed two other children from the girlfriend's
home – a 5-year-old girl and a 7-month-old baby boy. They are in foster care
as CPS investigates for signs of abuse and neglect.
Meanwhile, Julian's family is questioning how the little boy went missing.
“Julian…wouldn’t have just walked out of the house. Julian wasn’t
like that. He never opened the door for nobody, even if it was us he
would call his mom or daddy so we know he wouldn’t walk out of that
house by himself,” said Angie Salazar, Julian’s grandmother.
Travis County Sheriff's deputies are asking the public for information about
Julian over the last few weeks.
A sheriff's spokesperson says they do
not believe a stranger had any part in this.
A fundraiser at a hair salon on Montopolis Drive will last through Wednesday. Family
and friends are raising money for the boy’s funeral, which is set for Thursday.

Angie Salazar held up her 2-year-old grandson to the photo of Julian
Salazar Soliz , which hangs on a door of a Southeast Austin salon and is
surrounded by flowers .

"There he is. There's your brother,"
Salazar, 40, said while pointing at the photo. She tried to smile,
though her eyes were red . "He was asking for his brother. My first
grandson. He'll be missed."Julian was found dead Saturday in a
grassy patch in front of a northern Travis County home. He was 5. The
death is being investigated as a homicide, the Travis County sheriff's
office said Monday.Monday was the third day of mourning for this
Austin family, which, along with friends, gathered at Soila's Hair
Salon, where Julian's father, Leonard "Ivan" Soliz, has worked for the
past several years. Many expressed grief and shock at the loss of the
Wells Branch Elementary kindergartner , who often played at the salon.On
Monday, the owner and employees of the salon at 903 Montopolis Drive
began a weeklong benefit to pay for funeral services for the child. Many
stood outside preparing plates of barbecue to sell, and strangers drove
by to offer donations and help."Everyone loved him; everyone
wanted to be with him," said Soliz, 21 , who was wearing sunglasses and a
T-shirt with Julian's photo that read, "I miss you."

"It wasn't
his time to go," Soliz said. "I can't believe this happened."Jessica
Salazar, Julian's 23-year-old mother, added, "He was a lovable child,
happy all the time."Funeral services are planned for this week,
Julian's parents said.The parents, who are no longer together,
both said they want to know the truth about what happened to their son.
Soliz had last seen Julian about a week ago; Salazar said she last saw
him about a month ago.Both, along with grandmother Angie Salazar,
said they don't think he would have walked out of the North Austin home
from which he disappeared.Soliz said he left the child in the
care of his girlfriend, Nicole Turner , at their home at the Estates of
Shoreline apartments at 3501 Shoreline Drive about a week ago.Soliz,
a hairdresser, would often leave Julian in Turner's care when business
got extra busy, co-worker Valerie Galvan said.Soliz said Turner
told him that she woke up Saturday to discover Julian gone and the door
to the apartment unlocked.Sheriff's officials said the child
disappeared about 5:30 a.m. Saturday, but deputies were not called until
about 7 a.m. The child's body was found at 10 a.m. in a corner of a
yard of a home in the Wells Branch area.Soliz confirmed that his
son was found with internal injuries, but he and Salazar declined to
discuss the case further.Officials have said the case does not
appear to be an abduction by a stranger. No other details about the
death were available Monday."Detectives are now conducting
interviews, collecting evidence and working with the Medical Examiner's
Office," said a sheriff's office statement released Monday . "The
autopsy report has not been completed and, while detectives are
investigating this case as a homicide, details concerning the cause of
death are not being released."Child Protective Services
investigated the family five years ago, said Chris Van Deusen, a
spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services .Julian,
then 3 months old and living with his father, received a cut during a
parental dispute, he said. When Salazar arrived at Soliz's home to pick
up the child, they got into an argument and started grabbing at Julian,
Van Deusen said.No one was arrested in the incident, Van Deusen
said. CPS found that there had been "neglectful supervision" of the
child, but the case was closed because investigators thought it was a
one-time thing and that the parents realized their actions were wrong,
he said."The child didn't seem to be at risk of any future
danger," Van Deusen said.Since then, CPS has had no further
involvement with the family.Soliz has two other children, a
6-month-old boy with Turner and a 3 -year-old girl, he said. Salazar
also has two other children, a 2-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.Since
Saturday, CPS has taken custody of two children that lived in the home
with Soliz and Turner: the couple's son and Turner's 5-year-old daughter
from a previous relationship, Van Deusen said.A search of public
records shows that Soliz has a criminal record that includes
convictions for assault causing bodily injury to a family member in
2006, for which he was sentenced to 10 days in jail, and for burglary in
2009, for which he received a year of probation that is scheduled to
end next week.

The Travis County sheriff's office is continuing to follow leads in
the homicide investigation of 5-year-old Julian Salazar Soliz and says
there are no named suspects in the case.It could be weeks before
an official autopsy report is released, a sheriff's spokesman said
Tuesday. Meanwhile, investigators are asking for anyone with information
about the boy to contact police."It's not unusual in these types
of cases to not have an official suspect until you have ruled out all
the possibilities and come to a scenario that you think happened and can
prove it," spokesman Roger Wade said. "We want to make sure justice is
done and we don't arrest the wrong person."Tuesday marked another
day of questions for family and friends of Julian, who was described as
an energetic kindergarten student at Wells Branch Elementary. His
parents have both expressed disbelief at the loss of their son, whose
body was found Saturday in the yard of a North Austin home nearly two
miles away from the Shoreline Drive apartments where he was staying.Leonard
"Ivan" Soliz, 21, the boy's father, said this week that officials told
him the boy had suffered internal bleeding and injuries.At
Soila's Hair Salon in Southeast Austin, where Soliz works, a benefit
continued Tuesday to raise money to pay for funeral services."Everyone
is showing their love," Soliz said Tuesday. "We really appreciate
that."But Soliz acknowledged that he is facing increasing
scrutiny because of media reports about his criminal background, which
includes assault and burglary charges."It's upsetting. It's my
son we're talking about here," Soliz said. "People around me know I take
great care of my son."Additional counselors were at Wells Branch
Elementary on Monday and Tuesday, a Round Rock school district
spokeswoman said. Julian had attended kindergarten there since February.Previously,
he was a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten student at Perez Elementary
in Southeast Austin, Austin school district officials said."Julian
loved to dance and sing and would show off his spins to anyone who
would take a minute to watch," said Perez kindergarten teacher Maria
Pensinger. "He was a very happy child ... always smiling."Julian
disappeared Saturday morning from the North Austin apartment where his
father said he lived with his girlfriend, 22-year-old Nichole Shante
Turner. Soliz said Turner was caring for the boy at the time.On
Saturday, state Child Protective Services officials took custody of two
other children who lived at the apartment. CPS officials were called to
the home in 2004 after Julian, who was 3 months old at the time, was
scratched during a dispute between his parents, officials said. CPS
found there had been "neglectful supervision," but the case was closed
because investigators deemed it was a one-time thing, a spokesman with
the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said.Turner
could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Soliz said he has not been
able to reach her since Sunday.The couple also had a domestic
dispute about three years ago in which police were called.On Oct.
24, 2006, Soliz was accused of grabbing Turner "around the neck with
his hands" and "shoving (her) against the wall with his hand and by
choking (her) with his hand," according to court documents. Soliz
pleaded no contest to the charge of assault with bodily injury to a
family member in the Williamson County case and was ordered to serve 10
days.In March 2009, Soliz and his brother were accused of
burglarizing the home of a relative in Manor, according to an arrest
affidavit. According to the affidavit, Soliz forced his way into the
home while several small children were present, grabbed the relative in a
headlock and choked him. As part of a plea bargain, Soliz pleaded
guilty to a lesser charge and was placed on community supervision until
2011. Soliz has to stay away from the relative's home and have "no gang
affiliation," court documents said.Soliz said of that case:
"That's people saying stuff about me that's not true."Last month,
Soliz was pulled over for speeding and police discovered that he was
driving without insurance and had a prohibited weapon — grip-designed
knuckles — in the car, according to an arrest affidavit filed after the
March 9 incident.On March 18, the Travis County district
attorney said that Soliz had violated the terms of the 2009 plea
agreement and that in addition to the traffic and weapon citations, he
had tested positive for marijuana late last year and for cocaine March
5.The case against Soliz appears to be ongoing, court records
show. Soliz declined to comment on the case because it was ongoing but
said it has been delayed because of his son's death.

A state agency has initiated court proceedings in Travis County to
decide who will have custody of two children from the home of a 5-year-old boy
found dead Saturday.

The first hearing is slated for Monday in the custody case involving a
6-month-old boy and 5-year-old girl, both of whom were taken by Child
Protective Services officials from the North Austin apartment where
Julian Salazar Soliz had been staying.

A petition filed in Travis County court Monday could lead to termination
of the parental rights of Julian's father, Leonard "Ivan" Soliz, 21,
and his girlfriend, Nichole Turner, 22, for the two children. Soliz and
Turner are the parents of the infant; the 5-year-old is from a previous
relationship of Turner's.

The state agency is also investigating the conditions in the children's
home, a spokesman said Wednesday.

"We are still conducting our investigation to see what happened,"
said Chris Van Deusen, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and
Protective Services.

Julian was reported missing early Saturday from the family's Shoreline
Drive apartment and was found dead nearly two miles away several hours later, a
caretaker and law enforcement officials have said. No suspects have been
named in the case.

On Wednesday, family and friends gathered at an East Austin funeral home
for prayer services to remember Julian, whom they have described as an
energetic child. About 100 people came to Mission Funeral Home, most of them
wearing black and red shirts bearing a photo of a smiling Julian. The shirts
read: "I love you. I miss you."

Family members did not talk to media. Some carried roses made of red
bandanas. A family friend said the roses and shirts were being sold to help the
family pay for the funeral.

Latasha Taylor, who said she was the boy's baby sitter at one time,
brought a poster his teacher had made for him with photos of him and his
classmates at Perez Elementary School in Southeast Austin.

Meanwhile, the Travis County sheriff's office entered the fifth day of
its homicide investigation. Deputies have not released official details on
how the boy died. His father said the boy was found to have suffered
internal injuries.

"We want anybody who had seen Julian in the past two weeks to let us
know what he appeared like, what his demeanor was and who he was with,"
sheriff's office spokesman Roger Wade said.

Julian was a kindergarten student at Wells Branch Elementary. Officials
with the Round Rock school district said he was not in school April 8 or 9.
Before Julian began attending Wells Branch in February, he was in
pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes at Perez, Austin school
district officials said.

Julian's mother, Jessica Salazar, 23, said she had not seen Julian in
about a month. Soliz said he left Julian in Turner's care for a week and had not
seen his son for days.

On behalf of the Department of Family and Protective Services, Travis
County Assistant District Attorney Anna Lee McNelis filed the court petition in
the custody case involving the other children in the home.

"Family violence has occurred and is likely to occur in the future,"
the document reads. "Petitioner reasonably fears that there is a clear
and present danger of family violence."

In 2006, Soliz, then 18, was accused of grabbing Turner, then 19, by the
neck and choking her, according to Williamson County court documents. Soliz
pleaded no contest to assault with bodily injury against a family
member.

Turner and Soliz "knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the children to
remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the physical or
emotional well-being of the children," Monday's court filing read.

Van Deusen said the children could be returned to their parents, but
that depends on the outcome of the investigations into the welfare of the
children and into Julian's death.

Geez, these people have been breeding like rabbits before they were even deemed responsible enough to have a beer or vote. I count 7 poor children between these 3. One now brutally murdered and dumped.
It just goes on and on.

Child Protective Services will present a case Monday in a Travis County
courtroom that the two children taken from the home of the caregiver who last
saw 5-year-old Julian Soliz should remain in their care.


Julian Soliz was found on the side of a road in North
Austin last Saturday morning after his caretaker, Nicole Turner, who is his
father's girlfriend, reported him missing a few hours earlier.
Turner and Leonard Soliz have two children together, and they were taken by
CPS on Sunday.
Julian's death is being investigated as a homicide after he was
found to have internal injuries. He was buried on Thursday.

A Travis County judge this morning granted an Austin woman connected
to a 5-year-old found dead earlier this month supervised visitation
rights to her infant child.

Nichole Turner, who was caring for Julian Soliz when the boy went
missing from her North Austin apartment, will be able to visit her
6-month-old boy for one hour each week at the Austin offices of the
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, spokesman Chris Van
Deusen said.

Turner is also the mother of a 5-year-old girl, who Van Deusen said
has been ordered to begin therapy before visitation can begin. Both
children have been in a foster home since Soliz was found dead April 10,
Van Deusen said.

Leonard “Ivan” Soliz, the father of Julian Soliz and Turner’s
6-month-old boy, was also granted visitation rights for one hour each
week with the infant, Van Deusen said.

Members of the infant’s extended family also were granted one hour
each week with the child.

Turner appeared at the hearing with her attorney and several family
members from Austin and Georgia, who said they would be willing to
temporarily care for the children.

Home studies will be conducted in the next 30 days, Van Deusen said,
and custody rights could change in the coming weeks.

The next hearing has been set for June 7, he said.

Van Deusen said therapy for older children taken into state custody
is fairly routine.

Julian was reported missing from Turner’s Shoreline Drive apartment
and was found dead nearly two miles away several hours later, a
caretaker and law enforcement officials have said. No suspects have been
named in the case, and officials have not disclosed how the boy died.

Seven weeks have passed since 5-year-old Julian Salazar Soliz was
found dead, his body abandoned in front of a North Austin home.Little
is known about the investigation into who killed the energetic little
boy who liked to sing to his teachers. No suspects have been named. It's
unclear how Julian died, and sheriff's investigators have told the
county medical examiner's office not to publicly release the preliminary
autopsy findings. Any developments in the case are being tightly held.It
has proved to be one of the most demanding homicide investigations for
the Travis County sheriff's office this year, spokesman Roger Wade said."There
are cases where there are smoking guns and confessions, but those are
more rare," he said. "More often, you have to work a case the
old-fashioned way."This is "a case where it takes time to follow
up on everything. Everybody is working on it, and we are taking it very
seriously and working very hard. We want to see this case come to an
end," Wade said. "We want to see justice for Julian."For now,
Wade said, key details in the case, including any autopsy findings, are
not being released to avoid putting out information that "aids and
assists the perpetrator of the case." However, Wade emphasized that the
investigation has become a priority: a detective has been assigned full
time, and additional resources, including deputies who were on light
duty, have been drawn in to assist.They have been combing through
tips, witness interviews and surveillance videos close to the Wells
Branch neighborhood where Julian was found, Wade said.One detail
about the investigation remains clear: Julian was not killed by a
stranger."This is not a case where a stranger abducted Julian and
did something to him," Wade said, without elaborating on the evidence.The
case has triggered scrutiny for those closest to Julian, including the
caretaker who reported him missing, the boy's father and his mother.Since
Julian's death, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
has initiated investigations into all three individuals: the caretaker,
Nichole Turner, 22 ; the boy's father, Leonard "Ivan" Soliz, 21 ; and
his mother, Jessica Salazar, 23. In April, the agency began legal
efforts to terminate the parental rights of Turner and Soliz for two
other children, placing an infant boy and a 5-year-old girl who had
lived with Julian in state custody. Another hearing on the case is
scheduled Monday .The state has allowed Salazar to retain custody
of her two children from other relationships. This month , the agency
initiated a "family-based safety services" case in a Travis County
court, requiring Salazar to attend parenting classes and submit to
supervised home visits.Salazar has said she had not seen Julian
for a month before he was found dead. In an interview last week ,
Salazar said Julian's father had wanted to spend more time with the boy
early last year and began taking him on extended visits that grew to
full-time custody by the end of the year.Salazar said she didn't
get him back because she feared an altercation with Soliz; she said she
often argued with him over his parenting style. Child Protective
Services officials talked to both parents in 2005 after an altercation
between the two left a scratch on Julian, who was an infant, according
to the Department of Family and Protective Services.Salazar said
she never surrendered legal control of Julian but wasn't able to find
legal aid assistance to get him back.Now, Salazar wonders if
Julian would still be alive had she kept him."It is still hard to
deal with to this day," Salazar said. "There is a lot of stuff going
through my mind about what happened. I am still waiting for answers,
like everybody else."Julian was reported missing April 10 from
the Estates at Shoreline apartment where he had been staying. He was
found dead nearly two miles away.Turner called police at 7 a.m.
to report that Julian had disappeared 90 minutes earlier , sheriff's
officials have said. School officials for Wells Branch Elementary, where
Julian was in kindergarten, said he missed the two previous days of
school.Julian's father has said that he left him in Turner's care
and that he had not seen his son during the week before his death.In
an interview last week , Soliz's lawyer said his client had been mostly
estranged from Turner in the months leading up to Julian's death, but
she still cared for the child.It's not clear whether Soliz and Turner lived together. Attorney
Leonard Martinez described Soliz and Turner as having an "on-again,
off-again" relationship over the years.They had their troubles
together: In 2006, an arrest affidavit issued by the Williamson County
sheriff's office accused Soliz of grabbing Turner and choking her. Soliz
pleaded no contest to an assault charge and was sentenced to 10 days in
jail.That wasn't the end of Soliz's criminal troubles, however.
Last week, State District Judge Bob Perkins sentenced Soliz to one year
in jail for violating his probation in an unrelated 2009 assault case.Despite
Soliz's criminal history, he could never hurt his son, Martinez said."There
is no reason to even suspect that he would have had even motive or
opportunity or any reason whatsoever \u2026 to do something to that
child," Martinez said. "There is no indication that he has ever been
abusive or harmful when he's had contact with that child."Two
days before his son's funeral, Soliz himself rejected any notion that he
could ever hurt his son."It's upsetting. It's my son we're
talking about here," Soliz said. "People around me know I take great
care of my son."Turner has not commented on the case. Calls and
visits seeking comment at her parent's home in far eastern Travis County
, where neighbors say she had stayed in the days after Julian's death,
were declined.Neighbors describe Turner as a sweet girl who
became a mother at a young age. Neighbors expressed shock that Turner
was connected to Julian's case."She's a good girl, real sweet,"
said Demetrius Pack, 30, a stay-at-home dad who lives two doors down
from Turner's parents. "It's terrible what happened. I just pray for
them."Wade said the lack of public updates doesn't mean the case
has gone cold."We are still working Julian's case as if it
happened yesterday," he said. "There is a lot of information in this
case that if we put it out, it would interfere with the integrity of the
case."Salazar is holding on to hope that her son's killer will
soon be found."I am trying to be strong for my other kids," she
said. But Julian "is missed and loved to this day. I pray to God they
find whoever did this, so he can rest in peace, I can rest in peace and
his family can rest in peace."

A Travis County judge on Monday refused to allow a woman who cared
for a boy found dead this year to have visitation with her 5-year-old
daughter, calling the statements the girl made during private interviews
"horrific."State District Judge Darlene Byrne alluded to the
comments as she unleashed harsh words onto the child's mother, Nichole
Turner, during a court hearing Monday.Byrne ordered that the girl
and her 9-month-old brother remain in state custody.If the
statements the girl made are true, "then you scare me greatly," Byrne
told Turner in open court."You may be getting arrested; you may
be convicted; maybe it won't happen," Byrne said. "This is one of the
worst cases I have ever seen. And I have seen hundreds."Byrne and
other officials tied to the case declined to elaborate on the comments,
raising new questions about what might have happened in the Estates at
Shoreline apartments where Turner, 22, cared for her two children and
Julian Salazar Soliz, the 5-year-old boy found dead in April.Julian's
body was found two miles away in front of a Wells Branch home after
Turner reported him missing. No suspects have been named more than eight
weeks after his death.Byrne made her comments during an
often-contentious hearing Monday in the ongoing Texas Department of
Family and Protective Services case to decide custody of the two
children. For now, they will remain with their foster parents, Byrne
ruled.Turner, however, won an additional hour of supervised
visitation with her infant son, allowing her to see him for two hours a
week.Travis County sheriff's office spokesman Roger Wade
confirmed Monday that the girl was one of the witnesses interviewed in
the homicide investigation."Detectives have talked to several
people that were around Julian in the days before his death," Wade said.Monday's
hearing shed some light in a case that has been tightly held, as
developments in the investigation and autopsy findings are being
withheld from the public. Officials have said they don't want to release
information that could aide the perpetrator, who they say was not a
stranger to Julian.Julian also was reported to have missed the
two days of school before he was found dead, according to officials at
Wells Branch Elementary.His father, Leonard "Ivan" Soliz, has
said he had left Julian in Turner's care and had not seen Julian in the
week before he was found. Soon after, state officials initiated
proceedings to terminate parental rights for Turner and Soliz. Soliz,
who has since been jailed in connection with an unrelated assault case,
attended Monday's hearing in his jail uniform and said he would like to
begin visitation when he is released.Child advocacy specialists
for CASA of Travis County, the court-appointed special advocates for
children, said the older child, who is Turner's from a previous
relationship, was struggling recently. Turner's attorney, Kyle Collins,
said the girl has been "stoic" for three days and was not talking to
anyone.Collins argued that the children should be returned to
their mother."I am not returning these children to your client
until we have your client ... (testify on the witness stand and) swear
to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," Byrne
told Collins. "You are testing my patience."

Travis County deputies charged a caretaker in the death of a boy
whose body was found in April.



Nicole Turner is in the Travis County Jail. She's charged with injury
to a child in the killing of 5-year-old Julian Soliz.
Turner was caring for the child when he disappeared. His body was
found two miles from her apartment.
It has taken three months, but Travis County investigators said they
wanted to take their time and make the charges stick.

Investigators say they wanted to file murder charges, but at the moment
the best case they can build is injury to a child. It can carry the same
penalty as murder, if those injuries lead to death.
Detectives say Turner, who is the boy's father's girlfriend, reported
him missing on April 10th. Investigators say while they were
interviewing Turner that day, a report came in that a boy's body had
been found at the intersection of Wellsport Drive and Wellsport Cove,
lying in the grass. The child was later identified as Julian Soliz.
The boy's father remains in jail on unrelated charges. Travis County
investigators say the father played no role in his son's death.

The lawyer for a woman charged in the April death of a 5-year-old boy
in her care said Saturday that his client has committed no crime and is
not responsible for the child's fatal injuries.Kyle Collins, the
lawyer for Nichole Shante Turner, also said it's "not fair" that a
woman who took care of Julian Salazar Soliz "without pay and without a
thank-you from his natural parents" is now being accused of injuring
him.Turner, 22, was booked Friday into the Travis County Jail on a
charge of injury to a child, a first-degree felony for which she could
face life in prison. She was released from the jail about 11:30 p.m.
that day on $100,000 bail, said Roger Wade, a spokesman for the
sheriff's office.Authorities say Turner delivered a fatal beating
to Julian, whose body was found in the Wells Branch area April 10,
about a mile from her northern Travis County apartment.According
to an arrest warrant, Turner told detectives that Julian had been in her
care since his father, Leonard "Ivan" Soliz, was arrested March 9 on a
charge of carrying a prohibited weapon. She described "whooping" him
April 6 for lying and later said the punishment happened April 7.Julian's
mother, Jessica Salazar, has previously said that she did not see her
son for a month before he was found dead. Soliz, who was released days
after the March arrest but has been jailed since April 20 in an assault
case unrelated to the boy's death, has said that he left Julian in
Turner's care and that he had not seen him during the week before his
death.Turner could not be reached for comment. Her lawyer said:
"Why would she all of a sudden decide she's going to injure a child like
that? I don't think anybody that really knows Nichole would think
that."Collins also said, "I'm of the opinion that Nichole has
committed no crime against the state of Texas."He added, "I don't
think Nichole Turner is responsible for any of the injuries that
resulted in Julian's death."

The woman charged in the April death of 5 year old Julian Salazar
Soliz has been released from the Travis County Jail on $100,000 bail.
Nichole Turner, 22, was booked and charged with injury to a child
Friday, and was released that night around 11:30 p.m.
Turner, who authorities say is Julian's father's girlfriend, was
baby-sitting the boy when she reported him missing April 10th.
Later that day, the boy's body was found in a grassy area in Wells Branch.
According to a court affadavit, Turner admitted to beating Julian with a belt.
The medical examiner later said the child died from blunt force
trauma to the abdomen.

A woman linked to the beating death of a 5-year-old North Austin boy
has a court appearance this week. Three months after Julian
Soliz's death, police arrested Nichole Turner, 22, and charged her with
injury to a child, which carries the same sentence of five years- to
life in prison. Julian's father, Leonard "Ivan" Soliz had custody
of him, but he claimed he had not seen Julian for about a week before
his death. He is in jail on an unrelated probation violation. Turner
is Soliz's girlfriend, and Julian was under her care at the time. She
told detectives she was the only one with Julian in the days leading up
to his death. She reportedly described hitting him with a leather
belt three days before a passerby found the child's body on April 10 in
tall grass near a sidewalk and homes in the Wells Branch neighborhood
of North Travis County. Turner told investigators the belt could
have hit his head and stomach and admitted to losing control. The
night before Julian's body was discovered, neighbors told detectives
they heard what sounded like furniture being tossed around or someone
dropping heavy appliances in Turner's apartment. She reported the
boy missing just a few hours before his body was found. Soliz's
autopsy concluded he had died from blunt force trauma to his abdomen.
This injury could not be attributed to a car accident or a fall, police
said. The medical examiner counted at least 59 bruises on the boy's
body. Scarring to a wound on his head indicated the injuries happened
days prior to his death. Julian's biological mother, Jessica
Salazar said she was in tears most of the day after a Travis County
detective told her Turner was going to be arrested. Salazar said she and
her family were not surprised by the suspect, but could not bear to
hear the detailed account of abuse. Meanwhile, detectives said
they wanted to charge Turner with murder but that the district attorney
thought they had a stronger case with a charge of injury to a child.
Turner or her attorney are set to appear before the grand jury July
16. Her bond is set at $100,000. Here are some of the points made
in the arrest affidavit:

• Nichole also described
  “whooping” Julian on Tuesday (April 6) for lying. She later said this
  occurred on Wednesday (April 7). She described how she hit Julian with
  a black leather belt because he had told a lie. Nichole described
  that as she was doing this, she had a hold of Julian’s hand and he was
  moving around while she was hitting him with the belt. Nichole said
  she hit Julian on his buttocks with the belt 3 or 4 times. Then when
  Julian’s pants were down, she hit him with her hand on his buttocks.
  
• Nichole was also interviewed by Child Protective Services
  Investigator Michael Bradburn and she advised Bradburn on Tuesday,
  April 6 she whipped Julian with a belt 3 or 4 times. He was moving
  around so she had to switch to her hand and pull his pants down and
  spanked him 3 or 4 times on the buttocks. As Nichole was doing this,
  Julian fell to the ground and Nichole had a hold of him by his wrist.
  Julian continued moving about and she continued holding him by the
  wrist as she was swinging the belt. Nichole admitted that the belt
  could have struck Julian on the head and could have struck him in the
  stomach. Nichole said she realized that she had lost control.
  

Texas Child Protective Services took protective custody of two
other children living Turner, her 5-year-old daughter and a 7-month-old
boy she had with Soliz.

The woman accused of beating a 5-year-old boy before his death will be in court Monday.Nichole Shante Turner was charged with injury to a child several months after 5-year-old Julian Soliz's death in April.Julian went missing from his home in North Austin where he was staying with Turner, his father's girlfriend at the time.His body was found several hours later about one mile away.Police said Turner admitted to them she used a belt to discipline Julian a few days before he died. Autopsy results showed he died from a recent blow to the abdomen.There is also a custody hearing scheduled Monday regarding two other children who were also living with Julian.Child Protective Services removed an infant and another 5-year-old child from Turner’s home in April.

TURNER NICHOLE D-1-DC-10-100052 08/15/11 09:00 427TH DESG INJURY CHILD SBI/MENTAL

http://www.co.travis.tx.us/courts/files/dockets/dockets_criminal.asp

TURNER NICHOLE D-1-DC-10-100052 09/16/11 09:00 427TH DESG INJURY CHILD SBI/MENTAL 07/06/10

http://www.co.travis.tx.us/courts/files/dockets/dockets_criminal.asp

Baby Julian Salazar Soliz needs and deserves justice. I personally knew Julian and he was a bright child he new right from wrong and when I heard the story about what had happen knew it was bs. Julian would never open the door for no one and he was very smart for his age and everyone in his life new that too. I casnt believe that he has been going over 2 yrs and yet the person who did this to him is not behind bars. All I can do is ask why??? Why must a child as precious as Julian hasn't received any justice. Come on,and then when court comes around to make trial they want to reschedule? No family should endure the pain of losing a child and endure the pain of knowing that there is no justice for them... I love Julian and still can't believe this happened to our family. It wasn't his time to go but he was taken from us. Why does the person who did this to him get the chance to breath our fresh air? Instead of being behind bars? Please help The Salazar Soliz Familia get the justice they deserve.Our heavenly father has a wonderful angel in his arms and now he is watching over us. Sincerely M Rodriguez from Austin Texas... Please give us justice...

Welcome to J4C cruz06!
On behalf of all of our admins, mods and members, I offer our sympathies on behalf of your loss. Julian was, from what we have read and you have attested, on his way to a great life. Unfortunately, due to the unthinkable act of someone who was entrusted to care for him, we will not get to see the successes he would have had.
It is appalling that these trials keep getting delayed by appeals and motions. Please keep us up to date on any new information on this case and we'll also be very watchful for any developments.
May the peace and strength of our Lord be with you and your family.

TURNER NICHOLE COLLINS KYLE B D-1-DC-10-100052 10/21/11 09:00 427TH 3 DESG INJURY CHILD SBI/MENTAL

https://publiccourts.co.travis.tx.us/dsa/results.aspx?Attorney=0&mode=3&DateFrom=9/21/2011&DateTo=2/15/2012&Court=&CauseNum=-&DefLastName=TURNER%&DefFirstName=NICHOLE%&AttyLastName=%&AttyFirstName=%

TURNER NICHOLE COLLINS KYLE B D-1-DC-10-100052 11/18/11 09:00 427TH 3 DESG INJURY CHILD SBI/MENTAL

https://publiccourts.co.travis.tx.us/dsa/results.aspx?Attorney=0&mode=3&DateFrom=9%2f21%2f2011&DateTo=2%2f15%2f2012&Court=&CauseNum=-&DefLastName=TURNER%25&DefFirstName=NICHOLE%25&AttyLastName=%25&AttyFirstName=%25

I hope this child killer gets at least life! What a mean, heartless witch!