Santa Ana mother guilty of drowning baby daughter in bathtub

A mother was convicted by a jury Monday of drowning her 2-month-old baby in a whirlpool bathtub in a trailer in Santa Ana.

Lucero Carrera was found guilty of first-degree murder and causing such great harm that her daughter died, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

A sanity phase portion of the trial will begin Tuesday afternoon. Jurors must determine whether Carrera was legally sane when she drowned her daughter.

Prosecutors said Carrera had ingested a large quantity of pills on June 29, 2012, when she drowned her daughter, Kimberly Gutierrez.

She filled the bathtub with water about 4:20 p.m. that day and submerged her baby, prosecutors said.

Carrera was living with her mother and daughters inside the trailer.

Her mother had been shopping and returned home to find Kimberly lying face-down in the bathtub.

Santa Ana police went to the trailer, where they found Carrera and took her to a hospital.

For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA