2-Year-Old’s Killer Draws Sentence of 21 Years to Life

A Lake View Terrace man was sentenced Tuesday to 21 years to life in state prison in the death of his common-law wife’s 2-year-old son.

A jury in June found Sebastian Llorente, 32, guilty of second-degree murder, child endangering and inflicting cruel punishment on Anthony Martinez, who died of severe head injuries in February, 1983.

The prosecution alleged during the trial that the fatal blow occurred when Llorente shoved the boy against a wall in the couple’s apartment. An autopsy revealed finger marks on the child’s jaw, indicating that he had been lifted by the head and forced against a hard object, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Phillip H. Rabichow.

Others testified that the baby was constantly black and blue and suffered two broken arms in the months before his death.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Alan B. Haber imposed one year less than the maximum sentence of 22 years to life. Defense attorney Bruce C. Hill had argued for a reduced penalty of 15 years to life.

“Killing a 2-year-old is so heinous that 15 years to life does not seem enough,” said prosecutor Rabichow, who urged the maximum penalty.

“The child was particularly vulnerable, being 2 years old and not being able to go to anyone else.”

The boy’s mother, Carolyn Nichols, 26, testified that Llorente, a parking lot attendant, mistreated her baby on occasion.

Nichols, who was accused of gross negligence for allowing Llorente to abuse the child, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 1983. She was ordered to serve one year in County Jail and placed on five years’ probation.

Testifying in his own defense during the trial, Llorente denied any abuse and said the boy bruised himself by stumbling and falling. Llorente attributed the fatal injury to an accidental fall in the bathtub.

Llorente will be eligible for parole in about 10 years, Rabichow said.