Man Remains Jailed in Girl's Strangling

A D.C. Superior Court judge yesterday ordered a District man to remain in custody in connection with the July 29 strangulation of his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

Judge Neal E. Kravitz said he believes Felipe Antonio Caceres, 45, is a danger to family members and himself because of a suicide attempt before he surrendered. Ruling that there is sufficient evidence to move forward with the case, Kravitz ordered him held without bond and set a follow-up hearing for Sept. 12.

Prosecutors said Caceres strangled Marisol Caceres in their apartment in the unit block of Hawaii Avenue NE, where they lived with Marisol's two older step-siblings, her mother and Marisol's 1-year-old nephew. Marisol was found lying on the living room floor, partially clothed and with a plastic bag over her head, knotted at the base. There was no sign of forced entry at the apartment.

"This is a case of manual strangulation of a child. A particularly violent act," Assistant U.S. Attorney John Soroka said during yesterday's hearing.

Caceres, originally from Honduras, is charged with second-degree murder. He sat with his head bowed as a Spanish-speaking interpreter related the proceedings into his ear.

Initially, police and family members described Caceres as Marisol's father. But Detective Carlos Hilliard testified that Caceres married Marisol's mother around the time of Marisol's birth and was not the girl's biological father.

Caceres's court-appointed attorney, Eric Klein, said there is no evidence that his client killed Marisol. He said Caceres had been depressed, and that is why he had tried to take his own life.

Caceres, whose left forearm was bandaged yesterday, had hesitation cuts on his neck and arm, which police determined to be wounds from a suicide attempt. When he surrendered to police Aug. 1, Caceres told police he had been mugged, but Hilliard said there was no evidence of a mugging.

According to Hilliard's testimony yesterday, Caceres, an auto mechanic at Darkkar Autobody Repair Center in Upper Marlboro, had told his boss he planned to return to Honduras because he had purchased property there. But Caceres grew angry after learning that the property was in his wife's name. Caceres also told co-workers he was upset with his pay.

"The defendant murdered a member of his family because of his highly emotional state," prosecutor Soroka said. "He is under an extreme amount of pressure, in his own mind or in reality."

According to Hilliard, Marisol's mother and older sister said Caceres seemed fine the morning Marisol was killed. He left the apartment about 8:50 a.m., and Marisol's mother and sister left a few minutes later, locking the front door behind them. Marisol remained behind, asleep in one of the two bedrooms.

When Marisol's mother and sister returned to the apartment about 1 p.m., they found her body on the floor with a white plastic shopping bag over her head. Marisol's underwear and shorts were pulled halfway down. A preliminary report by the medical examiner revealed that no sexual assault had occurred.

Under Klein's cross-examination, Hilliard testified that family members and co-workers said Caceres never acted violently with Marisol and considered the girl his daughter.

According to Hilliard, Caceres called work the morning of Marisol's death, telling his boss in broken English that he was running late because "I do something." But Hilliard acknowledged under cross-examination that Caceres's boss was uncertain whether Caceres meant he had something to do later that morning or already had done something.

In the original charging documents, police said Caceres also told his boss, "You are going to be mad at me, but I am sorry."

Hilliard did not address that remark yesterday.

Family members originally suspected that Marisol was killed by a male neighbor with whom the family had argued about garbage in the hallways.

But Hilliard said the man had no access to the Caceres apartment.