Man Guilty in Baby-Shaking Death

A Reseda man was convicted by a jury Tuesday of second-degree murder and assault on a child for violently shaking a baby girl to death.

Jose Alonso Salazar, 31, could be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years to life. Superior Court Judge Michael Harwin scheduled sentencing for Oct. 7.

During the weeklong trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Salazar offered to care for 11-month-old Adrianna Krygoski for her baby sitter, who wanted to go shopping. Salazar was an acquaintance of the baby sitter, who was a friend of the little girl’s mother.

In the hour and 15 minutes before paramedics were called to aid the child, prosecutors contend, Salazar violently shook the infant and beat her head against a hard surface so hard that she received two skull fractures and injuries to 60% of the circumference of her skull.

“Unfortunately, the verdict will not bring Adrianna back. But we’re very pleased the jury weighed the evidence and convicted the defendant on all counts,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Turkat of the district attorney’s Sex Crimes, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit.

“Hopefully, this will educate the public to the dangers involved in shaking babies,” she said. “It was a brutal crime.”

Salazar’s defense attorney, Frank DiSabatino, could not be reached for comment, but he contended at the trial that the child was not injured while in his client’s custody.

The seven-woman, five-man jury disagreed.

“It was the expert testimony that gave us an understanding of the sequence of events,” said one juror, referring to the explanation given by James Ribe of the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.

“That led us to the only possible conclusion,” a guilty verdict, he said.

Another juror, who asked not to be identified, expressed revulsion. “The extent of the injuries was just appalling.”

The infant’s mother, Kimberly Krygoski, 21, had a tearful warning for other parents after the trial concluded. “She was killed three days before her first birthday. I left her with somebody I thought I could trust.”