Paul Gutierrez, who was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year for murdering 18-month-old Makaio Lynn Radke, has filed an appeal to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Gutierrez was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder &045; criminal sexual conduct and child abuse &045; by a Freeborn County jury in March.

Makaio was found dead in April of last year in the bedroom of his residence, where Gutierrez and his girlfriend were living with Makaio’s mother.

During the trial, Michael A. York, Gutierrez’s attorney, challenged the prosecution by raising points regarding the time of death and proof of sexual conduct.

Prosecutor William F. Klumpp Jr. called 34 witnesses and meticulously accumulated proof that showed the death occurred during the time that Gutierrez was alone with Makaio at home.

DNA taken from body fluid found on Makaio’s sleeper turned out to be a mixture of multiple identities and matched only partially with Gutierrez.

But Klumpp countered that the mixture of DNA corresponds to the fact that Gutierrez had sex with two different women in the morning on April 20 and did not take a shower on that day. The sleeper had been washed the day before.

After the guilty verdict, Judge James Broberg sentenced Gutierrez to life in prison without a possibility of release.