A caseworker pleaded no contest in Seminole County court Wednesday to charges of falsifying records and contributing to the death of a 2-year-old girl whose mother, Rachel Fryer, is charged with the child's murder.
Investigators said Jonathan Irizarry failed to report signs of abuse on Tariji Gordon's body in early 2014, while he was the caseworker in charge of supervising the toddler, along with two other children.
A judge sentenced Irizarry to three years of supervised probation. Irizarry also cannot do anything that requires supervising children during that time, the judge ordered.
Fryer, 33, is expected to stand trial for first-degree murder for her daughter's death later this year. She faces the death penalty if convicted. An exact trial date has not been set, but attorneys said it would likely begin around September.
The Sanford mom reportedly told police she found Tariji unresponsive in February 2014 and tried to revive her for 30 minutes. She then put the child's body in a suitcase, hitched a ride with a friend, and buried her in a shallow grave behind a home in Crescent City.
Fryer sent a handwritten letter to News 13 in July, saying she did not kill her daughter, and that she was behind bars for a crime she didn't commit.
Fryer is also charged with aggravated manslaughter, two counts of aggravated child abuse and evidence tampering.