The father of a child whose mother was charged with her murder gave an emotional statement Thursday morning in District Court in Montezuma County.
Brian Sandoval of Montrose said his life was changed forever in March of 2022, when his 5-year-old daughter, Annika Mae Leonard Sandoval, was found dead in a home in Montezuma County.
His former girlfriend, Rachel Leonard, 39, was indicted last year on a charge of first-degree murder in Annika’s death. She pleaded not guilty.
In September of this year, District Judge Todd Plewe granted a motion by District Attorney Jeremy Reed to dismiss the case. In the motion, Reed said a key piece of evidence, the contents of Leonard’s cell phone, would not likely be allowed in court. Plewe dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning charges could potentially be again.
On Thursday, Sandoval, sometimes choking up and barely able to talk, made a statement during a brief hearing on the sealing of records in the case.
“Her whole life was ahead of her – so many milestones to reach, dreams to chase, memories left to make,” Sandoval said.
According to the indictment, a detective with the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office responded to Leonard’s home on the morning of March 29, 2022, after a 911 call from another resident of the house. The deputy reportedly found the child dead on the floor and Leonard hysterical.
“She went to bed with the person she loved most, never knowing the danger she was in,” Sandoval said at the hearing.
The detective seized Leonard’s iPhone, which was on the floor next to Leonard’s bed, according to the indictment.
A pathologist who performed the autopsy on the body could not find a cause of death, according to the indictment.
In January 2023, investigators obtained a search warrant for Leonard’s iPhone and found that the phone’s user had done a Google search on March 27, 2022, on “how long does it takes to suffocate.” The user then went to an online forum discussion about suffocating someone with a pillow, the indictment states.
Montezuma County coroner George Deavers, who assisted with the autopsy, testified before the grand jury that there are generally no signs of suffocation that an autopsy could discover.
Sheriff’s and Colorado Bureau of Investigation investigators learned that Leonard was upset the night before the child’s death because when she took her to Telluride on March 26 to meet up with Sandoval for a visit, he brought his new girlfriend along
In his motion to dismiss the case, Reed wrote that the handling of Leonard’s cell phone by law enforcement didn’t meet legal requirements and was likely not to be allowed in court. Leonard’s attorneys had challenged the warrantless seizure of the phone and the fact that it was kept so long by law enforcement.
“I put all my faith into the justice system to do the right thing and I feel that it has failed me and my daughter,” Sandoval told the court.
“It wasn’t just one mistake made by the sheriff’s office, it was mistake after mistake.”
Sandoval said, “I had hoped for some kind of closure or accountability, but instead I am left unanswered.”
He asked the court to keep in mind that Annika was a person. “My daughter was not just a case number in a file, she was a little girl whose life mattered,” he said.
“My family will forever be broken.
“Every day I have to live with the reality that Annika is gone while the world continues to move forward. . .
“I ask you to remember Annika more than from just the circumstances of her death but as the beautiful, bright 5-year-old she was.
“She will never be forgotten.”
Sandoval said he objected to sealing records in the case.
Plewe told him he had listened to everything Sandoval had to say, but that there was no choice about sealing the records.
“The sealing is mandatory,” Plewe said. “I don’t have any discretion under the statute.”
He then said the case is sealed.
