El Cajon
Matthew Lesure was convicted of first-degree murder Friday in the slaying of a 2-year-old girl last summer in El Cajon.
Lesure, 29, was living with the girl’s mother, Katherine Minnifield, on June 13 when he brutally beat Sarah Toussant and dumped her body in a trash bin on South Sunshine Street.
The body, which was discovered by a vagrant, was wrapped in plastic bags. The bags also contained a sweat shirt that witnesses testified belonged to Lesure.
In statements to police, Lesure said he fell asleep in Renette Avenue Park and the girl wandered away. Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick Clabby argued that Lesure fabricated the story to cover his actions.
Lesure faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced by Superior Court Judge Terry B. O’Rourke on March 24.
O’Rourke ruled Thursday that Lesure was convicted in a felony case in 1982. According to Clabby, Lesure was sentenced to six years, eight months for three counts of robbery and therefore will serve five more years before beginning his sentence on the murder conviction.
The jury deliberated only 70 minutes.
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