Mother of Leavenworth boy who died from abuse is arrested

Monica Rivera

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The mother of a 4-year-old boy was arrested today in connection with her child’s death.

Monica Rivera, 28, of Leavenworth, was charged with aggravated endangering her son, who died after he was allegedly abused by her live-in boyfriend.

The child, Gabriel Rivera, was brought to a Leavenworth hospital Oct. 4 with severe injuries. He died within hours from severe abuse. Authorities have not released his cause of death.

The hospital staff alerted police about the injuries, which did not match up with the story told by family.

Monica Rivera will appear for a bond hearing in Leavenworth County District Court this afternoon. She was charged Friday but could not be located until today. Rivera’s boyfriend, Jason Lee Jones, was charged earlier this month with first-degree murder for Gabriel’s death.

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said that the boy’s mother placed him at risk of injury or death from February to October.

An 11-year-old also lived at the home but was taken into protective custody immediately after Gabriel’s death.

| Dawn Bormann, dbormann@kcstar.com

Posted on Mon, Oct. 26, 2009 04:13 PM

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