In Putnam County, Tennessee, Ashton Cole Sensing, the boyfriend of a toddler’s mother, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 2-year-old Ventura, receiving a 40-year sentence to be served in full. On December 2, 2023, deputies responded to a call about an unresponsive child, finding Ventura with bruising and swelling on his head. The toddler was rushed to Cookeville Regional Medical Center and then to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, where he was diagnosed with a major traumatic brain injury and later died.

Sensing, who was babysitting Ventura and three other children while the mother was at work, initially claimed the child fell into an air vent and later became unresponsive. However, he later admitted to throwing the child into a wall and hitting him out of frustration.

The medical examiner ruled Ventura’s death a homicide caused by multiple blunt force injuries. Sensing fled with the help of the toddler’s mother, Sara Mora, but was arrested on December 14, 2023, for first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, while Mora was charged with accessory after the fact.

On August 14, 2025, Sensing’s guilty plea was supported by Ventura’s father, Juan Francisco, who delivered an emotional victim impact statement in court. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, alongside other agencies, investigated the case.