JASMINE GARDEA - 4 months - Provo UT

At a Thursday sentencing
hearing for Victor Gardea -- who beat his 4-month-old daughter to death
last year -- there was no argument by attorneys, no entreaties or
apologies from the defendant, and the victim's mother was not in court
to speak.
But 4th District Judge David Mortensen was not content to send Gardea to prison in silence.
Before imposing a sentence of 15 years to life, the judge noted
that society recognizes that emotions sometimes run high and people
sometimes lose control -- except when it comes to children.
"There is nothing as innocent and vulnerable as a 4-month-old
child," the judge told Gardea, who has admitted punching Jasmine Gardea
once in the head and once in the torso because she was crying on Sept.
8, 2008. The child died the following day.
"To strike a child once is barbaric ... to strike your own daughter twice is evil," Mortensen told Gardea.
The judge said he would have given Gardea an even harsher sentence except for limits set by statute.
Gardea, 23, was charged with aggravated murder under new guidelines
that make it a potential capital crime to kill a child under 14, or to
cause a death while committing child abuse. He pleaded guilty to the
lesser crime of first-degree felony murder, which carries a mandatory
15-years-to-life prison term.
After the hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys said they declined to speak in court because the sentence was a foregone conclusion.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman told news reporters that Jasmin
Gardea died of blunt force trauma to the head. She also suffered
abdominal injuries, including a laceration to the liver and three
fractured ribs.
Gardea told police at the time of his arrest that he hit the child with sufficient force to knock an adult unconscious.
Defense attorney Richard Gale said the homicide was the result of a
"unique set of circumstances." Gardea, an out-of-work roofer, had
stayed up late the night before helping his wife -- who was the
family's sole provider -- study for school, Gale said.
"When the baby woke up and started crying, he got frustrated and made a mistake," Gale said.
By all accounts, Gardea was a good father who had never before
harmed his daughter or the couple's then-3-year-old son, Gale said.
And although Gardea declined to address the judge, Gale said he has expressed "great remorse" for what he did.
Gale could not explain why Gardea's wife did not attend the
sentencing hearing. Gale said the woman is "upset" at her husband, "but
still loves him and knows it was a mistake."
In addition to Jasmine's other injuries, the medical examiner found
evidence of healing rib fractures. But Gardea has denied harming the
child prior to the fatal attack, and attorneys said Thursday there is
no evidence tying him to those older injuries.