RACINE — Jeremy Marquez was sentenced to 13 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision on Tuesday for his role in his infant son’s 2019 death.
Arkaydin Howard died when he was 3 months old. His father, Jeremy Marquez, has been found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide in his death.
Arkaydin Howard was 3 months old on Feb. 22, 2019, when Marquez, who was charged with his care for the day, was accused of causing his death.
While the defense argued Arkaydin’s injuries were due to a possible illness, the jury ultimately found Marquez guilty of second-degree reckless homicide on Nov. 11; he had originally been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, which a jury felt was too heavy a charge upon conclusion of the trial.
Brittney Struebing, Arkaydin’s mother, was in attendance of the sentencing, along with her mother, who addressed the court.
“You take away a life, you shouldn’t have a life. But, we can’t control that. I’m just asking you please give him as much time as possible,” Struebing’s mom said through tears. “We are affected by this the rest of our life and he should too.”
People are also reading…
After Arkaydin died, Struebing made the decision to allow his organs to be donated. His heart saved the life of Peter Hernandez in Silica, Kansas, who is now a healthy 3-year-old. Earlier this year, Struebing was able to meet the Hernandez family.
Defense: ‘Marquez is not a monster’
“We all knew, and he knew, you don’t shake a baby,” lead prosecutor Diane Donohoo said. “There is no excuse.” She noted that the home smelled of marijuana when the baby died.
The prosecution reminded the court of Marquez’s record which, though short, points to an issue with drug use. Upon arrival on Feb. 22, 2019, investigators said the home smelled of marijuana.
Prosecuting attorney Diane Donohoo also pointed to investigators’ recollection of arriving to the scene: Marquez handed Arkaydin over “as if ridding himself of any obligation to help save his child’s life.”
The prosecution recommended a sentencing of 16 years in prison.
“I counted the days; Arkaydin was alive for 16 weeks and we are recommending 16 years of initial confinement,” Donohoo said. “The state submits that that is the minimum that will adequately protect the public and give this defendant an opportunity to make meaningful rehabilitation — he’s not there yet. I don’t know that jail has humbled him. He is perhaps fearful of what this court is going to do today, but he deserves what he is about to get.”
Defense attorney Adrienne Moore, of the State Office of the Public Defender, maintained Marquez’ character, stating that throughout the trial Marquez did not once show any anger, only what she described as “sheer agony.” She said he attempted to take his own life while in jail.
“Jeremy Marquez is not a monster,” she said.
Moore added that the court couldn’t do or say more to Marquez than he has already has to himself.
“I wish I wasn’t under the influence at the time. Maybe I would have reacted better,” Marquez said tearfully. “Maybe I would have been more attentive to my son’s care. I wish it had never happened and I am —” he paused, seemingly overwhelmed — “truly sorry.”
Racine County Circuit Court Judge Robert Repischak emphasized that the case was no longer about the debate in the medical community about a possible illness versus being shaken, whether it was a botched attempt at CPR or getting vengeance.
The jury had already decided that while Marquez did not mean to do so, he had caused his son’s death. Repischak said he believed it was the correct verdict and that Marquez had “manhandled” his son.
“This is a tragic, tragic event,” Repischak said. “No prison time is going to bring back your child. You’re going to have to live with the fact that you ended your child’s life.”
Racine County's best 33 photos of 2021: From vaccines to basketball to prom
Goodbye old friend
The Capitol-Park Theater's sign, untouched for more than a decade, read "SAVE ME" during the eventually unsuccessful fight to stop the historic building's destruction in early 2021.
On the water... er, ice
Randy Fletcher of Mukwonago shows off a bass that he caught Jan. 16 in the Town of Waterford during the 18th annual Tichigan Lake Lions Club Fish Jamboree competition.
Team Anarchy
Charlie Tennessen introduces the three donkeys on his farm, Anarchy Acres, that make up Team Anarchy on Friday, Jan. 29. From left, Cassie, Rosie and Sebastian.
Champs!
For the first time since the retirement of the legendary Bob Letsch, St. Catherine's High School basketball squad won the WIAA Division 3 championship.
Shots in arms
As nurse practitioner Tina Lovely watches and smiles, Dwayne Baker pumps both fists into the air on March 27 after getting his COVID-19 vaccination during a popup clinic presented by Ascension All Saints Hospital inside the HALO homeless shelter in Racine. Baker is one of more than 200 million Americans, 3.6 million people in Wisconsin and 116,000 people in Racine County to get vaccinated as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.
Voting: 'It's an obligation'
Malcolm Mahone of Racine prepares to vote at the Dr. John Bryant Community Center, 601 Caron Butler Drive, on Tuesday, April 6. "It's an obligation," Mahone said of why he voted. "Whenever I vote, I feel like I've honored my duty."
Vaccinations at Festival Hall
Roxanne Shuebel receives her second COVID-19 vaccine dose from Huyen Le, a University of Wisconsin-Parkside nursing student, on Friday, April 26, at Festival Hall.
Vaccinated
Dynasia Muns, a senior at Racine Lutheran High School, is vaccinated April 20 at St. Patrick Parish, 1100 Erie St., by Jeremy Laffin, Hometown Pharmacy's owner/pharmacist. It "feels very good” to be vaccinated, Muns said, despite wincing for a moment after the needle went into her arm. The 18-year-old said she got vaccinated "for my grandparents," with whom she lives.
A young date
A promgoer arrives at the red carpet Saturday with her youthful date.
Foxconn Globe ribbon cutting May 17
Dignitaries — including Mount Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot, far right, and Brand Cheng, CEO and board member of Foxconn Industrial Internet, third from right — stand in front of Foxconn's 100-foot-tall High-Performance Computing Data Center Globe during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 17 in Mount Pleasant; the press was not invited to the event.
High-fives for graduates
One of the biggest disruptions to everyday life in 2020 was how schools were interrupted. In 2021, classrooms were often filled again, with students learning and masked. In this photo: Abigail Gassman, center, a member of the Class of 2020 at Shepherds College in Union Grove is greeted by staff with high-fives on June 5 as she and her fellow graduates emerge from a ceremony that was delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joining the march
Noel Carter, 8, is shown at her first march for racial justice on June 6, following the deaths of Malcolm James and Ronquale Ditello-Scott Jr. — both men of color — in the Racine County Jail. Her grandmother said they were in their car when they saw the march and decided to join. "I just wanted to let her experience this."
'My little skater girl'
Tony Tohr rides his skateboard with his 5-year-old daughter, Nova Tohr — who he calls "My little skater girl" — in front of The Ivanhoe Pub & Eatery on Main Street in Racine on Wednesday, June 16. They live in the small town of Tipton, Iowa, with a population of less than 3,300, where Tony will often pick his daughters up from school on his board. They're in Racine this week to visit Tony's sister, Nicole Miller. To learn about Racine's new (and only) skate shop, the Belle City Boardshop that opened recently at at 1913 Taylor Ave., go to bit.ly/2SwsNSj.
Watching your feet
Resident James Fay dances with a prom guest at Home Harbor's prom event, for its residents who have often become even more isolated throughout the pandemic, on June 26.
50 years, two championships
In this photo, taken on Monument Square June 8 during the first night of Deer District Racine, Daniel Cunegin shows off his Milwaukee Bucks NBA championship ring. Rings were presented by Bucks management to everyone in the organization after the team's sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA Finals, and Cunegin was a bench warmer for the legendary squad.
50 years, two championships
Jubilant fans erupt in celebration on July 20 during a party that drew more than 500 people to Monument Square in Downtown Racine to watch the Milwaukee Bucks win the team's first NBA championship in 50 years. The party, known as "Deer District Racine," was among many gatherings held in Downtown Racine in 2021 as events have become a heightened focus for Main Street businesses.
Cooling down at the Splashpad
Kids from Children's Academy Daycare, 1015 Washington Ave., get a break from hot weather in July at the Dr. Laurel Salton Clark Memorial Fountain, also known as the Splashpad. The free Downtown Racine attraction reopened in 2021 after being closed due to COVID-19.
Back at it
2020's Racine County Fair was pretty much canceled. It was back in force in 2021. Pictured here: Auctioneer Gary Finley leads the action July 31 before a packed house as competitors show off their prize cows, hogs and other animals during the livestock auction.
Habitat for Humanity's Women Build
Racine Habitat for Humanity Women Build crew and volunteers raise a wall of a home on the afternoon of Aug. 3 at 2221 Racine St.
Smiles and bubbles
Kids enjoyed a bubble pit, complete with a bubble cannon manned by Spider-Man, during the return of Neighborhood Watch's National Night Out on Aug. 3 in Racine.
Father and son teamwork
Justin Hanson and his son Bryce Hanson work together over the summer on screwing down a board as a part of Bryce's Eagle Scout project, a dock on Duck Weed Pond at River Bend Nature Center, 3600 N. Green Bay Road.
Protesting in the school
A line of Burlington Police officers on the night of Aug. 9 stops a crowd of angry parents, opposed to the idea of a mask mandate in the Burlington Area School District, from further searching for district school board members through the halls of Burlington High School. The school board had vacated the BHS auditorium after the audience repeatedly and loudly interrupted the board as it met.
More please!
Co-owner Randy Larson of Spirits of Norway Vineyard, 22200 W. Six Mile Road in the Town of Norway, pours wine samples for John Halbach of Wauwatosa during the vineyard's new Tour ‘N’ Taste Experience on Aug. 21.
Hang time
Gun violence claimed a number of lives in the Racine area in 2021. But a new, young person-led group — the Put the Guns Down Basketball Association — launched this year to fight the epidemic, while also making sure to honor lives lost. In this photo, Leland March leaps for a dunk attempt during the league's all-star game on Aug. 29 at the Dream Court near the Dr. John Bryant Community Center, 601 Caron Butler Drive.
Remembering Andre Sandoval
Family members comfort each other during a Sept. 1 vigil for Andre Sandoval, who was fatally shot on the afternoon of Aug. 28.
Staying sane during quarantine
Rebecca Huizinga laughed as she described her family as "The COVID family" as she went on a walk the afternoon of Sept. 8 with her kids Adeline (standing in stroller) and Wesley, plus Zoey the golden retriever. Her family had been quarantining for nearly a month after Rebecca's husband tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-August; Rebecca tested positive second, with Wesley and Adeline following — although both of the kids seemed symptom-free, laughing and joking with one another. They remained socially distanced from others but still needed to get outside to retain some "sanity" as the end of their collective quarantine nears, Rebecca said.
Generations
At left, Aleksander Cukic translates questions on Sept. 14 that Adam Nikolic, second from left, has for Marvin Gleason III, third from left, regarding the restoration-focused construction project ongoing at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, 826 State St. Gleason is the third-generation president of Gleason General Inc., a contracting company. Cukic is a third-generation Serbian-American. Nikolic, who came to the U.S. from Europe in 1977, is now head of a family that has reached three generations of membership at Saint George Serbian. At right, Gleason General employees prepare to pour concrete for the new stairway for the church.
Simone Sorensen
“The biggest detriment to sensitive species is loss of habitat. That comes by through creating subdivisions and destroying native habitats through unsustainable development and invasive plants,” said Simone Sorensen, a 24-year-old Kenosha native and May 2021 Parkside graduate. She's pictured here in Pritchard Park, where she and another student discovered the re-emergence of the endangered rusted patch bumblebee.
Dave Giordano and Anna
Dave Giordano, right, spends time with his daughter on Sept. 14 at Pritchard Park, located at the intersection of Ohio Street and Durand Avenue (Highway 11) in Racine. At the park, likely thanks to the efforts of the Root-Pike Watershed Initiative nonprofit that Giordano is executive director of, the endangered rusty patched bumblebee was rediscovered.
Deported and back again 2
Ricardo Fierro, 42, walks his 3-year-old daughter, Josephine Rose, to school at Bull Early Education Center, 815 De Koven Ave., in late September. Arrested in 2018 and deported in 2019, he's back in Racine, legally, through what's known as humanitarian parole.
Graduating incarcerated
A graduate holds a young loved one following the graduation ceremony at Racine Correctional Institution on Nov. 4.
Finley Strauss-Thompkins, 10, of Racine gets COVID-19 vaccination
Finley Strauss-Thompkins, 10, of Racine, shows off the bandage over where she got her first COVID-19 vaccine dose on Nov. 6 outside a Walgreens pharmacy in Caledonia.
Tragedy
Brittney Struebing leaves toys, including trucks and a stuffed duck, that her son Arkaydin Howard should be playing with. If he were alive, Arkaydin would be 3 now. But he died Feb. 22, 2019, while in the care of his father, Jeremy Marquez, who is facing up to 25 years in prison. Struebing is trying to raise money to buy Arkaydin a proper headstone. She said she visits his burial plot often.
"You're going to have to live with the fact that you ended your child's life."
Judge Robert Repischak
Lauren Henning
Reporter
Lauren focuses on education reporting, but isn't one to turn away stories. Born and raised in Racine County, she attended UW-Madison's School of Journalism and Mass Communication before returning to work with The Journal Times.
