Fresno jurors hear shocking 911 tape in murder trial involving 2-year-old boy

In the last few hours of Xander Villalobos’s young life he went from being a happy-go-lucky toddler to a boy fighting desperately to stay alive.

A 911 call played Tuesday for the jury in the trial of Aaron Moton, Xander’s alleged killer, recorded some of the child’s last gasps for air.

His mother, Nikkey Rojas, is heard talking with a 911 operator in a panicked voice. She tells the operator he’s lethargic, his body is nearly completely limp and his skin has a pasty hue.

Those in the courtroom listened to Xander’s groaning as he struggles to breathe. Several of Xander’s family members attending the trial left the courtroom after becoming emotional. One of the jurors also appeared to be crying.

The boy’s bruised body was taken to Community Regional Medical Center where he died from his injuries. Forensic pathologist Michael Chambliss with the Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office testified Monday that the child suffered a fatal liver injury the likes of which he has never seen.

The child was struck in his abdomen with such force that it caused his liver to split.

The 25-year-old Moton, Rojos’s ex-boyfriend is charged with Villalobos’s death. But his defense team of lawyers Scott Kinney and Jennifer Mele, are trying to cast doubt on prosecutor Amy Cobb’s theory that Moton struck the child so severely that it caused his death.

Kinney pointed the jury’s attention to statements made by the child’s mother Rojas and her sister Kelli, who lived in the same west-central Fresno apartment complex and who helped take care of Xander.

Xander died on Oct. 5, 2021, at the hospital and his death immediately raised eyebrows among doctors, who suspected child abuse. Photos taken during his autopsy showed numerous bruises, some relatively new and others already starting to heal.

Kinney questioned the child’s mother about his injuries. He asked her if she noticed several bruises on his legs and on his back on the day he died.

She said no and Kinney asked why not.

“I didn’t pay attention,” she said.

He also asked her if she ever saw Moton strike Xander and she said no. She also denied physically disciplining Xander.

Xander’s aunt, Kelli Rojas testified that she also hadn’t notice the bruises until the day Xander was taken to the hospital.

She testified that Moton told her he suspected Xander’s older sister might have struck her little brother. But she didn’t believe him because Xander’s sister had not been around Xander for the last few days. The girl spends half her time with her father who lives elsewhere.

Kelli Rojas also testified that Moton sent her several text messages the day Xander died, suggesting the boy injured himself on a bunk bed in their apartment or had hit his head on a wall.

She also told prosecutor Cobb that Moton asked her not to speak with police about Xander.

Kinney was surprised at the allegation. He asked Kelli Rojas why she had never mentioned to police that Moton urged her not to talk to detectives. She replied that she did not know.

The trial continues Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Dept. 72.