LUBBOCK, Texas — A man charged with Capital Murder in 2020 for the death of a small child after stuffing her into a backpack agreed to plead guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.
Trevor Marquis Rowe, 27 at the time, was accused of leaving 10-month-old Marion Jester-Montoya in a backpack inside an unattended vehicle.
Rowe had a history of child abandonment dating back to 2018, when he left two children unattended. That charge was dropped.
Around 5:00 p.m. on January 7, the Lubbock Police Department was called to 130th Street and Upland Avenue for a child not breathing, according to previous reports. Marion was then taken to the University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
Rowe had picked up Marion from the home he and her mother shared earlier that day. He took her to work, stuffed her in the backpack and left the backpack on the floorboard for several hours “checking on her periodically.”
After his lunch break, Rowe moved Marion “through the backseat pass through to the trunk.” Hours later, when she was not breathing, Rowe called 911 and drove to 130th and Upland where he attempted CPR until EMS arrived.
Rowe was arrested around 1:00 a.m. on January 8 and was held on a $2 million bond.
