Calif. Mother Who Sedated Child, Hid Him in Closet for 3 Years Before Death Sentenced to 25 Years to Life

Yonatan Daniel Aguilar, 11, weighed 34 pounds at the time of his 2016 death

A California mother was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison, several years after authorities said she hid her 11-year-old son in a closet after sedating him before his 2016 death, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirms to PEOPLE.

Veronica Aguilar, 46, pleaded no contest to the charge of assault on a child causing death. Her sentence came seven years after her son Yonatan Daniel Aguilar was found dead in a closet in his Los Angeles home in August 2016.

As previously reported, Yonatan weighed just 34 pounds at the time of his death and had pressure sores on his body, according to authorities. The type of sores are typically found on elderly nursing home patients, coma patients and those who use wheelchairs, said authorities.

City News Service, citing the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office, reports the child died of the effects of multiple drugs, and had suffered from dehydration and generalized neglect.

Related: Calif. Mom Allegedly Starved Son, 11, and Locked Him in Closet for 3 Years Before Death

The Los Angeles Times previously reported, citing court records, that the boy was kept in the closet for three years before his death.

Police told the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2019 during a three-day preliminary hearing that the boy looked at least four years younger than his actual age when he was found, and was described as "a very gaunt, frail-looking child."

Child abuse pediatrics specialist Dr. Janet Arnold-Clark said at the time, per NBC, that Yonatan “was deprived of food for a very long time,” and that “the only real explanation of that is that he had been malnourished for several years.”

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During Aguilar's recent sentencing, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler called the case "tragic" and said the boy must have felt "terrror and fear," reports City News Service.

Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott reportedly added that the mother's plea "represents a significant and appropriate outcome reflective of the gravity of the crime committed," and that the child's "life was tragically and unjustly cut short by the years of neglect and abuse at the hands of his mother."

During the 2019 hearing, Los Angeles Police Det. Sandra Platero said that Aguilar claimed her son was "pure evil." The detective also testified at the time that Aguilar gave the boy medication to calm him and had him sleep in a closet.

Police testified that the boy's stepfather, who according to police was previously unaware of the boy's situation, had called 911 after discovering that his stepson had died, and said he had thought the boy was living in Mexico with a family friend.

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