Nearly two years ago, a convicted rapist attacked a woman near a set of railroad tracks between Fort Wayne and New Haven.Now the woman is suing him, and the motel where she was staying, which employed him.FORT WAYNE – An Allen Superior Court jury found 41-year-old Amilcar Estrada guilty of child neglect, but he wasn’t there to hear the verdict.
Estrada failed to appear for the third day of his trial Thursday morning, causing his attorney Nikos Nakos to worry and causing Judge John Surbeck to issue a warrant for Estrada’s arrest.
Estrada was out on bond on the felony charge of neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury, accused of failing to obtain medical treatment for his then-girlfriend’s 2-year-old son in February 2012.
The toddler was taken by ambulance from the lobby of Estrada’s Sheridan Court apartment building in critical condition. Doctors found numerous injuries, including bruises all over his body, contact burns on his face and leg, and three brain hemorrhages, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, Estrada’s co-defendant and ex-girlfriend, Holly Brooks, also known as Holly Fedock, testified she abdicated most of the care of the toddler to Estrada while she got “high” on drugs in the bedroom.
Brooks pleaded guilty in January to the same felony charge of neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury. She is serving a five-year prison sentence for her role.
Brooks testified no one but she and Estrada had any contact with the toddler in the three weeks before their arrest.
