LANDON SKINNER - 16 Months (7/2007) - Atwater/ Merced CA

Jurors have begun deliberations in the case of a 27-year-old man
accused of fatally injuring his girlfriend's 16-month-old son in 2007.
Armando
Oseguera Jr. is accused of causing the July 24, 2007, death of Landon
Skinner. The child died after he became unconscious and stopped
breathing at a home in the 1100 block of East Manzanita Drive in
Atwater.
Oseguera and the child's mother, Jennifer Karroll, have
two children together. Landon Skinner was Karroll's son from another
relationship.

The prosecution believes Oseguera hurt the toddler while he was
supposed to be caring for the child. Paramedics responded to the home
during the evening hours of July 23, 2007, and revived the child, but he
later died at the hospital.
The defendant was arrested April 27,
2010 -- nearly three years after the child's death. Back in 2007,
Oseguera told detectives he had no idea of how the child died. But in
2010, after detectives questioned him again, he changed his story,
saying he dropped the child, and the baby's stomach hit the corner of a
crib. Oseguera said the child seemed unhurt.
During closing
arguments Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Matthew Serratto told
jurors the baby's injuries tell a different story. Three doctors
concluded the child had died from blunt force trauma to the stomach --
an injury so severe the child's internal organs were compressed, causing
severe internal bleeding. Such a severe injury would require a great
level of force, and couldn't be an accident. "These are traumatic,
violent injuries," Serratto said.
Serratto also said the defendant
had a motive, hurting the child because he came from his live-in
girlfriend's previous relationship.
The defense claims the case is
based entirely on circumstantial evidence. Deputy Public Defender Tony
Green told jurors there are no witnesses to the alleged beating. Green
also said none of the doctors said it was "impossible" for the injuries
to have resulted from an accident.
Green pointed out there were
others who had cared for the child around the time the injuries
happened, including his grandparents and the mother herself. "We may
never know what really happened to Landon," Green said.
Oseguera
faces two felony counts: assault on a child with force likely to result
in great bodily injury, and felony child abuse. He's also charged with
domestic violence for a separate incident involving the boy's mother. If
convicted, he faces life in prison.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/03/08/2260534/jurors-begin-deliberations-in.html

A 27-year-old man accused of fatally injuring his girlfriend's
16-month-old son was found guilty by a Merced County jury on Friday,
after nearly two days of deliberation.
The jury of five men and
seven women determined that Armando Oseguera Jr. was responsible for the
July 24, 2007, death of Landon Skinner in Atwater. He was found guilty
of assault on a child with force likely to result in great bodily injury
and felony child abuse.
The verdict means Oseguera likely will spend 25 years to life in
prison. Family members of the victim wept and sighed in relief after a
clerk read the jury's verdict. Oseguera's family sat in stunned
disbelief.
Sharon Collins, the victim's great-grandmother, cried
profusely after the verdict was read. "It was very emotional, but God
knew who did it, and I think they got the right person," Collins said.
"And I am so happy that they did."
The case posed some challenges
for the prosecution, as there were no witnesses to the abuse and the
evidence was primarily circumstantial. Prosecutors said Oseguera hurt
the baby while he was supposed to be caring for him. Prosecutors argued
that Oseguera's motive for the abuse may have been anger, as the child
was the son of his girlfriend from a prior relationship.
In 2007,
Oseguera told Atwater detectives he had no idea of how the baby died.
But his story changed three years later, saying he dropped the baby, and
the baby's stomach hit the corner of a crib. Oseguera was arrested
April 27, 2010.
The prosecution compiled a timeline showing when
Oseguera had watched the child, and argued the injury the child suffered
was so severe it couldn't have been an accident.
The child died
from blunt force trauma to the stomach. The prosecution said the blow
was so powerful it caused severe damage to the baby's organs, resulting
in internal bleeding.
Deputy District Attorney Matthew Serratto,
the prosecutor in the case, said the severity of the child's injuries
probably resonated the most with jurors. Serratto said the baby vomited
and began showing symptoms from the injuries after he had been alone in
the bathroom with Oseguera.
"I think his admitted attempts at
deception over the years and his ever-shifting story and guilty
conscience in so many different ways manifested itself," Serratto said.
"Even though there wasn't a confession, there was quite a bit of
circumstantial evidence of his own consciousness of guilt."
Deputy
Public Defender Tony Green said Oseguera maintains he's innocent and
had nothing to do with the child's death. "He's very emotional right
now," Green said.
Oseguera's family members were present
throughout the trial and remained in the courthouse halls after closing
arguments, holding hands and praying while jurors deliberated.
Green
said the fact that Oseguera changed his story three years after the
child's death probably influenced jurors. "There's no good explanation
about why he didn't bring this up to police sooner," Green said. "That, I
think, is probably what caused the jury the most concern."
Paramedics responded to the home in the 1100 block of East Manzanita Drive during the evening hours of July 23, 2007.
The
mother of the victim, who has two children with Oseguera, testified she
had gone to lunch and left the child with him. Later, she saw the child
lying in his playpen, looking pale and sick. He had been throwing up,
was sweaty and his stomach was hard.
She called an ambulance, but
the child stopped breathing before paramedics arrived. Although the
paramedics were able to revive the child, he was pronounced dead at the
hospital the next day.
Oseguera is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Donald J. Proietti on April 11.
Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/03/10/2263414/boyfriend-guilty-in-2007-death.html#storylink=cpy
The jury also found Oseguera guilty on a
misdemeanor domestic violence charge for an incident involving the
child's mother, Jennifer Karroll. Two other domestic violence charges
were dismissed.






Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/03/10/2263414/boyfriend-guilty-in-2007-death.html#storylink=cpy