VANESSA HART - 4 yo (2010) - Kearns (SW of Salt Lake City) UT

SALT LAKE CITY — Marina Navarro wasn't there to see her former
boyfriend receive a prison sentence for the fatal beating that she
delivered to the man's daughter.
But her name was everywhere in court Monday as a
number of people told 3rd District Judge Robert Faust that whatever
Navarro did to Vanessa Hart, the girl's father — Clinton Joseph Hart —
should have known about it.
"My daughter was a sweet, innocent little 4-year-old
who did not deserve to be abused and have her life taken by someone who
should have protected her," Stephanie Alfaro, the girl's mother, said.
Faust agreed, handing down four concurrent sentences of one to 15
years in prison for charges of child abuse homicide and three counts of
child abuse, all second-degree felonies, to the 22-year-old man.
"There is no doubt you loved your daughter, which is …
so tragic because you were the only one who could have protected her …
and you failed to do so," the judge said.
Hart's daughter, Vanessa, died June 13, 2010, from
what doctors at Primary Children's Medical Center described as "multiple
severe injuries," including head trauma and swelling of her brain.
Hart was initially charged with murder, a
first-degree felony, but he pleaded to a reduced charge, largely because
Hart was at work when it is believed his daughter sustained the fatal injuries.
He was working when Navarro sent him a text message
saying that Vanessa had fallen down the stairs, was lethargic and was
having a hard time breathing. He returned to find his daughter
unresponsive, but prosecutors were adamant that it was a pattern of
abuse that led to the girl's death.
"(Hart) certainly bears responsibility for failing to
protect his daughter from a pattern of torture," prosecutor Rob Parrish
said, before reading a number of threatening text messages Navarro sent Hart.
"The child's spirit and body was broken by both of
these people," Parrish said. "Vanessa should be here today. She should
be a thriving, happy 5-year-old, not the victim of a perfect storm
created by her natural father."
Defense attorney Steven Shapiro said that while his
client was involved in some "inappropriate discipline," the severity of
the injuries that would lead to Vanessa's death was "unforeseeable" to the amateur father.
"Nobody had any idea Marina was going to do that to
that girl," Shapiro said. "The thing that couldn't be foreseen was the
gravity of the injuries Marina inflicted."
He said Navarro, who was pregnant with Hart's child
at the time Vanessa died, constantly threatened to leave the man and
take the unborn child with her.
Still, Hart said he was almost at a loss for words over the tragedy.
"I made mistakes," Hart said tearfully. "I missed signs, and I've
done things I should not have, and they are all things I can now no longer change."
He said that he struggled to hear himself
characterized as a poor father and a "bad person." He said his daughter
was an "inspiration" to him.
"I have disciplined and I have seen my daughter
disciplined by Marina," Hart said tearfully. "It did not seem a bad
thing compared to what I grew up with … but now I can't describe how
much pain I'm in to have to live with this for the rest of my life."
The girl's mother and grandmother said they repeatedly tried to track
down the girl and her younger brother, but Hart was evasive. They felt
Hart was just as responsible as Navarro and were not satisfied with the sentence.
"Naturally, I want death," Alfaro said. "I don't feel
it's fair. He did not get the sentence he deserved. Who fails to take
care of their child (to this degree)?"
Navarro has pleaded guilty to murder, a first-degree
felony. She was originally facing charges of capital murder and three
counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony. She will be sentenced Aug. 29.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705388895/Kearns-man-ordered-to-prison-for-his-part-in-daughters-death-ex-girlfriend-delivered-fatal-blows.html?pg=2

SALT LAKE CITY—
Marina Belen Navarro was given 15 years to life for the murder of a 4-year-old girl
who died from being physically abused.
Navarro, 22, was sentenced for the murder of Vanessa Hart, who died a little
over a year ago after succumbing to physical abuse. Navarro was given
the maximum sentence after the courtroom learned of Navarro's ongoing
physical abuse towards Vanessa.
Navarro was not at her sentencing Monday. Instead, she had her
attorneys read a three-page letter to the little girl's family. The
letter said she was not asking for forgiveness "because I can't even
forgive myself," Navarro wrote. "I wish I could take it back. I'm
prepared to spend the rest of my life in prison." But Vanessa's mother
thought Navarro's sentence should have been death instead of prison and
says she does not accept any plea from her child's killer.
"I don't believe any of it. I don't believe she had a close relationship to
my daughter," said Vanessa's mother Staphanie Alfaro. "I believe that's
why she went through the abuse she did."
Alfaro says her soon-to-be ex-husband and Navarro, his girlfriend at the time, kept her
daughter away from her for a year. She says last time she saw her
daughter was on her deathbed June 13, 2010.
"I feel like I can't move, because I feel like she's still here and I can't leave her," says Alfaro.
Navarro was convicted of first-degree murder and will spend her sentence at the Utah State Prison.
"The hardest part is realizing how little parenting skills there were among
these two people and how many red flags there were when they would not
let Vanessa be seen by anyone else in her family, when they started
doing things like applying makeup to her bruises so they could take her
out in public," says Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Rob Parish.
Vanessa's father, Clint Hart, was found guilty of child abuse homicide and three
counts of child abuse neglect and was sentenced earlier this month. He
will spend one to 15 years behind bars.
http://www.fox13now.com/news/local/kstu-child-abuse-murder-woman-sentenced-in-child-abuse-murder-of-4yearold-girl-20110829,0,5756197.story