A 24-year-old man was convicted Monday of fatally beating a 13-month-old boy while the child’s mother was in another room of her East Compton apartment.
Jurors deliberated for less than a day before finding Rodrigo Hernandez guilty of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office stated.
Hernandez was watching his girlfriend’s young son on June 7, 2015, when the attack occurred, a new release from the DA’s office stated.
Soon after, family members alerted the mother that the child was acting strangely. When the mother went to the child, the boy began to have seizures. Additionally, bruising started to develop on his body, Deputy DA Abigail Baron said.
Paramedics were called to the home in East Rancho Dominguez and the toddler was taken to the hospital where he remained until his death three weeks later, according to the release.
At trial, a coroner’s official testified that the child died from blunt force trauma to his abdomen.
Hernandez was scheduled to be sentenced on May 11.
He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.