If convicted of capital murder, Yovahnis Roque could face life in prison or the death penalty.
ORANGE, Texas — Jury selection for the trial of an Orange County father accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter is expected to begin Monday.
More than two years after the murder of Savanna Roque, 2, took place, 28-year-old Yovahnis Roque is preparing to stand trial.
Police said Roque used a hammer during the fatal attack on his daughter.
If convicted of capital murder, Roque could face life in prison or the death penalty.
Roque told investigators that he thought his daughter had an electronic chip in her head and needed to get rid of it. He also claimed the government was controlling him and said he did not kill his daughter.
Ryan Gertz, Roque’s defense attorney, previously told 12News he believes Roque was criminally insane at the time of the brutal murder.
Roque is currently in the Orange County Jail being held on a $2 million bond, according to jail records.
Roque was arrested naked and covered in blood on the front porch of his house on Feb. 20, 2019.
After detaining Roque, police entered the house and found his daughter’s body in a bedroom closet, according to a 2019 news release.
During Roque's first court appearance, he could be heard saying the government made him do it and “this is fake, it’s all fake.” At one point he repeated, “I don’t know what you want from me.”
Roque was indicted on a capital murder charge April 11, 2019.
In a 2019 interview with 12News, Martha Roque, Yovahnis Roque's mother said she was filled with mixed emotions. She said Yovahnis Roque loved Savannah, and while she believes he’s ill, she said that will never excuse what he did.
Martha Roque said the morning of the murder, she had gone to see Orange County Judge Chad Jenkins to have Yovahnis Roque picked up and evaluated, but when she got back, it was too late.
Family and friends of Yovahnis Roque said he had struggled with mental illness, drug use and the 2016 death of his daughter’s mother, Rachel Foster.
Savanna Roque was later taken to Florida to be buried near her mother's grave.
, Tiana Johnson, August 22, 2021
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
