Atchison woman found guilty of aggravated endangerment in death of 18-month-old
An Atchison woman was found guilty of aggravated endangering a child in Leavenworth County court Wednesday in connection to the death of her 18-month-old daughter.
A jury found Liberti N. Figueroa, 24, guilty of two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child, according to a Leavenworth County court document. Figueroa was acquitted of reckless involuntary manslaughter.
Officers from the Leavenworth Police Department responded to an apartment in the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Drive around 5:40 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2023, where they found 18-month-old Saraphina Avarose Sanchez not breathing.
Police performed CPR and life-saving measures, and the infant was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The infant’s injuries were not consistent with information given to officers, Leavenworth Police Department Deputy Chief Dan Nicodemus previously told The Star.
An autopsy later revealed that Saraphina had died from “head trauma that caused internal bleeding,” according to a news release from Leavenworth County Attorney’s Office Public Information Officer Micah Bray.
Figueroa was charged in connection to Saraphina’s death on Feb. 19, 2025, according to court documents. Each aggravated endangerment charge stems from two incidents involving the infant.
On Sept. 20, 2023, evidence showed Figueroa was in an upstairs bedroom in her Leavenworth apartment when an ashtray fell onto Saraphina, who was lying on a bed, according to the news release.
On Oct. 18, 2023, the day police found Saraphina not breathing in the apartment, investigators discovered that Figueroa had left her boyfriend, whom she had been seeing for only a few months, to watch Saraphina and another child, according to the news release.
She later told investigators her boyfriend “wasn’t a very responsible person” and that Saraphina was “sick and sleeping when she left,” according to the news release.
When Figueroa returned around 1 p.m., she did not check on Saraphina until 5 p.m., according to the news release. During that time, Figueroa left her apartment to purchase marijuana and smoked the substance in the apartment.
Figueroa was not accused of directly inflicting injuries to the child, but prosecutors said the woman “acted recklessly by causing or permitting a child under the age of 18 to be placed in a situation where the child’s life, body or health was endangered — ultimately resulting in the child’s death.”
Saraphina, also known as “Sara Bear” or “Butterfly,” was described as a “crazy, beautiful, dancing, smart, sassy baby girl who enjoyed Elmo and eating,” according to her obituary.
Figueroa is scheduled to attend a sentencing hearing on Sept. 19, according to the news release.
The Star’s Andrea Klick and Robert A. Cronkleton contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 3:16 PM.
