Editor’s note: This story contains information about child abuse convictions. If you know or suspect that anyone under 18 is being abused, call the Texas child abuse hotline at 1-800-252-5400. To learn more about how to identify signs of child abuse or neglect, click here
A San Angelo couple has been sentenced after Josiah Limuel died just days before his fourth birthday, according to a press release from the Tom Green County District Attorney’s Office.
The child’s mother Shytel Lee Limuel, 31, was being held Friday in prison at the Hobby Unit about 340 miles east of San Angelo, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice online records.
Her boyfriend Mark Anthony Nieves, 44, was being held Friday in the Tom Green County Jail, according to online jail records.
They were both charged with a first degree felony offense for causing serious bodily injury to a child, the DA’s Office press release stated. The punishment range is 5-99 years or life imprisonment with the possibility of probation.
They were also charged with the state jail felony offense of endangering a child, according to the media release. Nieves was also charged with a third-degree felony offense of intentionally or knowingly cause bodily injury to a child.
On Jan. 18, 2024, the police and fire department responded to the call of an unconscious child who was turning 4 years old on Jan 21 that year.
“The child was transported to Shannon Medical Center where medical staff worked on him for several hours, but were unable to revive the child and he was pronounced deceased later that same day,” the release stated.
Detectives with the San Angelo Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit responded and began their investigation.
“The medical examiner found the cause of death to be hypothermia and noted the child was severely malnourished and noted evidence of neglect and abuse,” according to the release.
The investigation ultimately led to the two being charged with several felony offenses, the media release said. Limuel and Nieves, who lived with the child for a substantial period of time, were arrested by the Abilene Police Department on April 24, 2024.
“The couple was later indicted on these charges,” the release stated.
On May 1, 2025, Limuel entered a plea of guilty to intentionally or knowingly by omission causing serious bodily injury to a child and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
She also pleaded guilty to two charges of endangering a child and was sentenced to 365 days confinement in state jail on each of those charges. All sentences are to run concurrently, the release stated.
On Oct. 8, Nieves entered a plea of guilty to intentionally or knowingly by omission causing serious bodily injury to a child and was sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to the media release. Nieves also pleaded guilty to intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to a child and endangering a child. He was sentenced to four years and 730 days confinement on those charges. All sentences are to run concurrently.
District Attorney Allison Palmer’s office thanked the SAPD and officers for their work in the investigation.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: San Angelo couple pleads guilty after child dies
Reporting by Rosanna Fraire, San Angelo Standard-Times / San Angelo Standard-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
