A Cortez woman accused of killing her 5-year-old daughter in 2022 entered a not-guilty plea Monday morning in District Court.
Thirty-eight-year-old Rachel Leonard was indicted by a grand jury in August 2025 on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Annika Sandoval.
According to the indictment, a sheriff’s deputy responded to Leonard’s Montezuma County home on March 29, 2022, after a 911 call from another resident of the house The deputy reportedly found the child dead on the floor of the bedroom and Leonard “crying and speaking incoherently,” according to the indictment.
The pathologist who conducted the autopsy could not find a cause of death for Annika and listed it as undetermined.
Investigators later learned that on the night before Annika’s death, Leonard was upset with the child’s father, from whom she was estranged, according to the indictment.
On March 26, 2022, Leonard had taken Annika to Telluride to meet up with her father, Brian Sandoval of Montrose, for a visit, according to the indictment. Leonard and Sandoval reportedly had an informal agreement to meet in Telluride for custody exchanges and not to involve “other people.” However, he brought his new girlfriend to the drop-off, the indictment says.
According to the indictment, when Leonard picked Annika back up on March 28 after her visit, the 5-year-old said she wanted to stay with her “new family.”
A search of Leonard’s iPhone, conducted after a search warrant was obtained, reportedly found she had done a search for “how long does it take to suffocate.”
On Monday, District Judge Todd Plewe set the trial for Oct. 7 after some wrangling over which dates could accommodate the testimony of an expert witness the defense attorneys consider critical to their case.
At one point Plewe told them, “Your expert is not running my courtroom. You’ve got to be more flexible.”
Defense attorney John Moran said, “It’s a very busy expert.”
The defense has suggested there could be other causes for Annika’s death that involve medical problems rather than homicide.
A motions hearing has been set for Aug. 13.
