The murder trial of a 27-year-old McAllen man accused of killing the 5-year-old son of his then-girlfriend is underway in San Antonio, according to the San Antonio Express News.

Daniel Garcia is facing charges of murder, altering, destroying or concealing a human corpse and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury. 

He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the murder charge. 

Garcia was arrested in August 2021 in Florida in connection with the death of Domenic Patrick Aguilar.

According to the San Antonio Express News, Garcia abused the boy multiple times in a three-week period. At one point, he “hit the boy so hard he bounced off a wall.”

The boy’s body was eventually found dumped in a Colorado ravine in 2021. 

The child’s mother — 27-year-old Nickolle Cristina Aguilar — pleaded guilty to a charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, in exchange for her testimony against Garcia and a maximum of 15 years in prison.