murdered toddler's father speaks out

EL PASO, TX - The biological father of the three-year-old girl found beaten and stashed away in the trunk of a car says her mother and stepfather are to blame.

21-year-old Marco Gonzales says his worst nightmare come true.  He tells ABC-7 he had not seen his daughter , Jacqueline Gonzales, for several months because of an on-going custody dispute with her mother, Yara Perez.

Perez and her common-law husband Franscisco Castaneda were arrested and charged in the toddler's death.

Gonzales says the news of his daughter's death has him and his family devastated and now they want answers.

According to him, the last few times they saw the toddler, she showed clear signs of abuse.  The alleged abuse was reported to Child Protective Services but nothing was done, he says.

He is convinced Perez and Castaneda are responsible for the death.  "They did it.  They both have something to do with it. Now, I don't want to go to court for them to plead insanity.  They are not insane, they're just sick," he said.

Gonzales says he and Perez were due back in court next January for another hearing related to the on-going custody battle for the toddler.

"I hope (they) go through what Jacqueline went through, you guys will pay for this. Justice will be served," he says, in regards to Perez and Castaneda.