A North York man has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a two-year-old girl in March 2021.
The jury convicted 30-year-old Rodrigo Flores Romero on Friday, but found him not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Wynonna Noganosh.
Noganosh, who was known as Winnie, was a happy child who came to Toronto from the Magnetawan First Nation on March 17, 2021, with her mother Aleisha Noganosh and brother for a visit with her mother’s fiancé, Rodrigo Flores-Romero.
Two days after arriving at the North York townhouse where Flores-Romero lived, Noganosh died in hospital.
During the trial, the jury was shown a surveillance video of Noganosh walking through a parking lot of the Metro Grocery store on Wilson Avenue with her brother and Flores-Romero, just before the assault.
They also viewed a number of cellphone videos that Flores-Romero sent to Aliesha inside the supermarket in which she appears happy and talking.
The car was then tracked to a parking lot of the Grandravine Community Centre, where it was seen backing into a parking spot where it sits for around six minutes before Flores-Romero and the children drive off and arrive minutes later in the parking lot at 299 Grandravine Dr., where he lived.
A cellphone video taken by Flores-Romero sent to the child’s mother was also shown in court. In it, the accused is talking to the little girl who is in the backseat of the car. She is moaning and unresponsive. At one point, Flores-Romero can be heard saying in a surprised tone, “Oh, she peed.” The video then shows the toddler’s soiled pants.
Flores-Romero testified in his own defence during the trial, and told jury members that Noganosh needed to pee, so he drove to the parking lot of the community centre so she could relieve herself.
He directed the child, who the court heard was toilet-trained, to a grassy area at the back of the building and scrolled on his phone looking at Instagram, while she was left unattended.
As she came back from peeing, Flores-Romero told the court that he took her hand, she stepped on his foot, and there was a fall.
Once at home, Flores-Romero gave Noganosh a bath, before her mother noticed the child was not well.
The couple took Noganosh to hospital, where Flores-Romero said she had slipped and fallen in the bathtub.
During the trial, Flores-Romero’s defence lawyer Paul Mergler told the jury that his client didn’t know how badly Noganosh had been injured.
“If you think what he did was accidental as described, he is not guilty of murder,” Mergler said.
Mergler also said Flores-Romero had consumed more than three-quarters of a 750 mL bottle of Jack Daniels that afternoon and was drunk.
“The Crown might say that any consumption of alcohol had no meaningful effect on his ability to function or make decisions. His judgment seems remarkably skewed,” Mergler said.
“Driving with a G1, unbelted children, one in the front seat, one rolling stop, one blown stop sign, overshooting the Metro store, and having to do a U-turn … To prove second-degree murder, the Crown must prove that he was aware of the consequences of his unlawful actions.”
Merger explained to the jury that to find Flores-Romero guilty of second-degree murder, the Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he assaulted Noganosh and knew that death was likely.
The verdict appears to mean that the jury believed that Flores-Romero assaulted Noganosh and killed her, but did not appreciate that by beating her, he was likely going to kill her.
The verdict also means the jury rejected Flores-Romero’s testimony that she stepped on his foot as they were walking back to the car from the community centre, and he fell on her with all his body weight.
The jury also heard that just months before Noganosh was killed, her father was also killed. However, they did not hear the details of what happened.
On Nov. 16, 2020, 32-year-old Brent Mancheese was killed during an altercation in Scarborough. His ex-girlfriend Chelsea Arkarakas was charged with second-degree murder. Months later, the charge against Arkarakas was withdrawn after it was determined that she was acting in self-defence.
At the time of Mancheese’s death, Global News reported that neighbours saw a woman running out of the basement apartment looking for help because she’d been injured. Arkarakas had been beaten up and fought back with a knife.
A date for Flores-Romero’s sentencing is expected to be set next week.
A GoFundMe page for Noganosh’s family has been set up.