Sean Michael Kothe
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — Orcutt resident 25-year-old Sean Michael Kothe showed up in Santa Barbara County’s Santa Maria Superior Court yesterday to attend his preliminary hearing on a murder charge pursuant to the death of 18-month-old Delilah Cossio-Molina, which occurred on June 26, 2015, and found himself in even hotter water.
At his appearance, Kothe found himself facing Deputy District Attorney Tiffany Dix, who announced “an amended complaint” that added an additional felony count of dissuading a witness by force or threat and two additional misdemeanor counts of “cruelty to a child in his care or custody stemming from incidents occurring on or about May 5th and June 23rd of 2016.”
Kothe, who was initially arrested on an outstanding warrant and drug possession charges and subsequently identified, along with his girlfriend Jakeline Molina-Rodriguez, as responsible for the death of Molina-Rodriguez’s child, remains in custody on $1,000,000 bail.
When Kothe and Molina-Rodriguez brought the toddler to Marian Regional Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, doctors suspected foul play when the mother’s recitation of events failed to match the nature of those injuries.
While in custody, Kothe allegedly attempted to dissuade a witness identified by the prosecutor only as “John Doe” from revealing any information about the case or “from talking to law enforcement officers,” giving rise to the additional felony charge no imposed.
For his part, Kothe has submitted a plea of not guilty to all charges.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Boooking
