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(KSL News) The man and woman accused of killing a little boy by placing him in ice-cold water at the Melting Pot restaurant pleaded not guilty today.
Pedro Gaucin-Canales and Rebecca Hernandez-Velasco are accused of killing 9-year-old Josue Contreras Velasco, Hernandez-Velasco's brother, last July.
Gaucin-Canales and Hernandez-Velasco worked at the Melting Pot restaurant in Salt Lake City.
According to charging documents, Gaucin-Canales forced the boy, called JC in papers, to get into a large garbage can, naked, while Hernandez-Velasco went to get "several buckets of ice and cold water."
Gaucin-Canales put the ice water into the garbage can with Josue, where the boy was forced to stay for approximately 45 minutes as a disciplinary measure, police say.
By the time emergency crews got to the restaurant, Josue had died from hypothermia.
A pretrial conference is set for July 11, and the trial is set to begin on Sept. 15.
