Death, Injury From Child Abuse Documented in O.C. Court Cases

While child abuse rarely results in death or serious injury, according to county officials and experts, tragedies do happen. Here are some recent court cases:

* Oscar Aguilar Lezama and Rocio Huerta Cazares pleaded guilty to killing their 3-month-old Down’s syndrome daughter after initially claiming that the infant had been kidnaped at knifepoint. Lezama was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Cazares received five years probation for being an accessory after the fact.

A 15-year-old girl is charged with murdering a 9-month-old boy she was baby-sitting. An older brother of the infant told Santa Ana police that the baby-sitter had been abusing the child. A pretrial hearing is set for Juvenile Court Oct. 21.

A state appeals court reversed a murder conviction of Steven Delgado, accused of beating to death his girlfriend’s 11-month-old daughter, citing a judge’s comments to the jury. Prosecutors have appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court and Delgado remains in prison.

Lawrence Joseph Lujan was arrested in connection with the beating of the 2-year-old son of his girlfriend, which left the toddler with permanent brain damage. The boy’s mother, Cynthia Jones, was also arrested. Jones and Lujan, who was convicted of a similar crime nine years ago, have pleaded guilty to various charges in connection with the child’s death and are scheduled to be sentenced in the next several months.