NADELY GUTIERREZ - 2 yo - (2008) /Convicted: Victor Morales Bakersfield CA

Man arrested for toddler's murder

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Bakersfield Police have arrested a 19-year-old man for murder and child endangerment after the 2-year-old girl he was babysitting suffered head trauma and died. Victor Morales was booked into Kern County Jail for the death of Nadely Gutierrez.

Nov 18, 2008 at 12:25 PM PDT

Story Updated:
Dec 18, 2008 at 2:35 PM PDT

Victor Morales

Bakersfield Police arrested a 19-year-old man Monday night for murder and child endangerment after the 2-year-old girl he was babysitting suffered head trauma and died, police announced Tuesday.

Victor Morales was arrested and booked into Kern County Jail for his role in the death of Nadely Gutierrez, according to a police news release.

Morales was babysitting Gutierrez on Nov. 10 for her mother when the child suffered a head injury. Morales and the girl's mother, Cassandra Bailey, were dating.

Autopsy results released Monday by the Kern County Sheriff's Office showed the child died Nov. 12 of "blunt-force injuries to the head."

The police investigation reveled Morales didn't immediately take the child to the hospital, instead waiting for the girl's mother to return from work.

Morales also initially said the child hurt herself while jumping on a bed, though the injury didn't fit that story, according to police.

Man gets 25 to life for toddler's death
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A man admitted to "actions of negligence" Tuesday morning as he was sentenced to prison for the death of a 2-year-old girl.

Jul 6, 2010 at 5:46 PM PDT


Victor Morales makes a statement Tuesday during his sentencing for cruelty to a child resulting in death.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A man admitted to "actions of negligence" Tuesday morning as he was sentenced to prison for the death of a 2-year-old girl.

Victor Morales was babysitting his girlfriend's daughter, Nadely Gutierrez, in 2008 when the girl suffered head trauma and died. He initially told investigators that the girl got hurt jumping on a bed.

Morales asked for the family's forgiveness as a judge sentenced him to 25 years to life for cruelty to a child resulting in death.

"He asked us all for forgiveness. We will never forgive him, ever. There is no forgiveness in our hearts," Nadely's great aunt Candace Stewart said. "I hope and pray to God that some humongous man finds him real pretty in jail."

Appeals court rules CPS was right to remove child

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4/12/2011 9:10 am

Kern social workers were right to take a newborn from a Bakersfield mother who lied to protect the man who murdered her other child, an appeals court has ruled.

Kassandra Bailey's 2-year-old daughter, Nadely Gutierrez, was beaten to death in November, 2008. Her live-in boyfriend, Victor Morales, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.

Bailey initially told police she was with Morales when Nadely was accidentally injured while jumping on a bed.

An autopsy showed the child suffered a skull fracture and massive brain injuries caused by blunt force trauma from a beating, not a fall.

Ultimately, Bailey admitted she lied to investigators, that Morales was home alone with the girl when she was injured.

"The Department of Human Services removes children for their safety. That's the only time we would take a child away from their parents, when we are doing it for the child's safety and well being."

A Kern County judge said that was the right decision and now an appeals court has agreed.