Defendant Testifies He Didn’t Kill Baby

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend’s infant daughter testified Tuesday that the last time he saw the child alive he sang her to sleep.

“I walked to the left side of the bed, put her on my chest, patted her on her back and sang her a lullaby,” Steven Delgado told jurors.

Delgado, 22, is charged with beating to death 11-month-old Amanda Ortiz, who was found dead the morning of Sept. 26, 1989.

He acknowledged that he was alone with the girl and her 5-year-old brother the night before she was found dead. But he said he first learned of the girl’s death when her mother, Elizabeth Ruiz, telephoned him at home the morning of Sept. 26.

“(Ruiz) said, ‘I think Amanda’s dead,’ ” Delgado testified. “I said, ‘Did you call the police?’ She said ‘No.’ When I asked her why not, she didn’t answer.”

Delgado testified in Orange County Superior Court that he had spent the night at Ruiz’s Santa Ana apartment but left about 6:30 a.m. to get ready for work. He testified that he went home, took a brief nap and received Ruiz’s call at about 7:30 a.m.

Delgado and his attorney contend that Delgado was not in the home when the baby was killed. The prosecution has argued that the child was killed the night of Sept. 25 when Delgado was left alone with the children while their mother went to the store.

The victim’s 5-year-old brother testified last week that he saw Delgado beat his sister to death.

Johnny Ortiz testified that he was in the bed with his sister when Delgado entered the room, threw Amanda against the wall, beat her repeatedly with his fist, and then hit him in the mouth.

Delgado is also charged with assault on the boy, who now is in the custody of his father.

But Delgado testified that his only contact with the girl that night came when he went into the bedroom to quiet the crying girl.

“I never heard Amanda after that,” he said.

Neither prosecutors nor police have suggested a motive for the killing.

An autopsy found that injuries to the girl’s abdomen were the primary cause of death. Two skull fractures and multiple chest bruises also were found, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert C. Gannon Jr. told jurors two weeks ago during the trial’s opening arguments.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Delgado faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.