Man sentenced to 25 years to life for beating death of 13-month old boy

A 24-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Wednesday for brutally beating a 13-month-old boy who eventually died from his injuries.

Rodrigo Hernandez was convicted in March on two felony counts of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death.

The jury deliberated for less than a day before announcing the verdict.

On June 7, 2015, Hernandez was caring for his girlfriend’s son, Fernando Garcia, in the family’s apartment near Compton while she was in an adjacent room.

At some point, family members reported to the boy’s mother that he was behaving abnormally. He began to have seizures and they noticed bruising on his body, prosecutors said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at the home and found Fernando was not breathing, according to sheriff’s records reviewed by The Times.

His body was cold, with bruises in the shape of finger marks on his chest and abdomen and a burn mark on a portion of his leg, according to records obtained by The Times from the Department of Children and Family Services.

The boy was hospitalized and died about three weeks later. The day he was hospitalized, detectives arrested Hernandez on suspicion of child abuse.

During the trial, representatives from the coroner’s office testified that the child had died from blunt-force trauma to his abdomen.

Witnesses told authorities that the boy was afraid of Hernandez and would cry when he was present, according to DCFS records.

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Times staff writer Garrett Therolf contributed to this report.