Main: Stephanie Aviles appearing in court in July 2025 (KWCH). Inset: Jacob Aviles (GoFundMe).
A 30-year-old mother in Kansas may spend the rest of her life behind bars for killing her 2-year-old son, who was brutally beaten to death. Sedgwick County District Court Judge Eric Williams on Tuesday ordered Stephanie Aviles to serve 25 years to life after being found guilty of first-degree murder for the 2019 slaying of young Jacob Aviles, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Aviles was also convicted on charges of child abuse and aggravated child endangerment and received an additional 41 months in prison, to be served consecutively to the murder sentence. Should she ever be released on parole, Aviles will be required to serve an additional three years on probation.
Aviles” boyfriend at the time, Bernardo Gonzalez-Mejia, was also arrested and charged in Jacob’s death. He will face murder and other charges when he goes to trial later this year.
According to a news release from the Wichita Police Department, officers responded to a call for assistance at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019, at a residence in the 1100 block of West Munnell Avenue regarding a 2-year-old boy who was not breathing. Upon arriving at the address, police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel all made contact with the victim — later identified as Jacob — and life-saving measures were attempted. The boy ultimately succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene.
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“Through the investigation, the boy was found to have extensive bruising on his body which led to the two arrests,” police wrote at the time, referring to Aviles and Gonzalez-Mejia.
An autopsy determined Jacob suffered contusions on his head, arms, legs, abdomen and back. The child was also bleeding internally in the abdomen and suffered multiple lacerations to the mesentery, which is the tissue that attaches organs to the wall of the body, Wichita ABC affiliate KAKE reported. The death was ruled a homicide from blunt force trauma.
Court documents from Wichita NBC affiliate KSN revealed additional details about the circumstances of Jacob’s death.
According to the report, Aviles had gone out with her daughter, leaving Jacob in the care of Gonzalez-Mejia. While Aviles was out, Gonzalez-Mejia called her and told her that the boy had fainted and was now unconscious. Gonzalez-Mejia reportedly said that Jacob was beginning to turn yellow and, despite removing food from his mouth, the boy was still unresponsive. Aviles then called 911 and headed home.
By the time she returned to the house, medical personnel were already working on the boy.
Aviles reportedly claimed that neither she nor Gonzalez-Mejia ever struck the children. She noted that Jacob often suffered injuries when left alone with Gonzalez-Mejia, but claimed such injuries came with explanations. This was despite two injuries to the boy’s genitals that required hospitalization.
“Bernardo would explain it away,” she reportedly told police.
Gonzalez-Mejia initially denied ever striking the children, but later admitted to using a belt to spank Jacob over his diaper the previous evening because he wasn’t eating, KSN reported.
Prosecutors at Aviles’ trial reportedly argued that Gonzalez-Mejia regularly abused the children and that Aviles was aware that such abuse was taking place, but continued leaving him in charge of the kids.
Gonzalez-Mejia’s trial is set to begin on Dec. 8. He is facing charges of murder, child abuse, and child endangerment.
