SAN ANTONIO – Baby King Jay's grandmother is "a manipulator" and orchestrated the cover-up following the infant's death, the woman's niece said Monday.
"Christopher did whatever he did to the baby and Beatrice helped him cover it up," Elizabeth Sampayo said after a hearing for Beatrice Sampayo, 65, who is facing tampering with evidence charges in the death of her 8-month-old grandson.
King Jay Davila's body was found buried in a backpack in a shallow grave in January.
Sampayo's son, Christopher Davila, is married to the child's mother and is facing injury to a child charges in the case.
Christopher Davila's aunt, Angie Torres, was also in court for a post-indictment appearance. Torres is charged with tampering with evidence and is jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Torres' lawyer, Karl Basile, said that at this point, there has been no talk of a plea bargain in the case.
"Neither the state nor I are in a position where we can discuss any type of agreement, or what we're going to do with the case other than just further our investigations and come back and talk some more later," Basile said.
The case will be back in court on Tuesday when Christopher Davila is scheduled to make his first post-indictment appearance.