Family mourns loss of 10-month-old stuffed in backpack

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - A family is distraught and a man is facing capital murder charges after he told police he stuffed his girlfriend’s 10-month-old child into a backpack and left her in his car for more than five hours on Tuesday.

27-year-old Trevor Rowe is in the Lubbock County Detention Center, with bond set at $2 million.

KCBD sat down with the family on Wednesday afternoon. The baby’s father, aunt and grandmother say she was a sweet girl and they are going to miss seeing her grow up.

Emilio Montoya, the child’s father, said Marion was a very active baby who would always run around.

“She was actually learning to walk,” Emilio said.

Marion Montoya was just two months away from turning one, but the birthday party her grandmother was planning, is not going to happen.

Police came to 130th Street and Upland Avenue on Tuesday in response to Rowe’s 911 call. He told police he called 911 after he performed CPR on the child.

Rowe said he put Marion in the backpack and placed it on the floorboard of his car while he was at work, checking on her occasionally.

According the arrest warrant, Rowe went to a fast food restaurant and two stores during his lunch break with Marion in the backpack. He said he put the backpack in the trunk of his car when he returned to work,.

The next time he checked on Marion, she was not breathing. That’s when Rowe called for EMS. Marion was transported to UMC where she was pronounced dead.

Marion’s father, aunt and grandmother said they saw warning signs that she was being mistreated by Rowe.

Sheilah Montoya, Marion’s grandmother said when Trevor came out to get Marion “she immediately started screaming and grabbing (Sheilah).”

CPS has confirmed they were involved with the family before the incident on Tuesday.

Katrina Montoya, Marion’s aunt, said if Emilio had custody of Marion, she would still be here today.

“She wouldn’t be gone,” Katrina said.

According to court documents, this is not the first time Rowe has been arrested. It happened before, in 2018, when he was accused of leaving his two children unattended in a home.

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