Jury convicts father of drowning his baby daughter in Pasadena
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More than four years after the tiny, lifeless body of Mo’Nayjah Jackson was found in a Pasadena apartment, jurors on Wednesday convicted the infant’s killer: her father.
Marquise Jackson, 26, was found guilty of first-degree murder and child abuse by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury.
During the trial, jurors heard evidence that Jackson drowned the 1-year-old baby at the apartment belonging to the child’s mother, located in the 100 block of West Del Mar Boulevard in Pasadena.
At the time of the May 20, 2011, slaying, the mother was at work, prosecutors said.
A swarm of police and paramedics had responded to the apartment after a 911 caller reported that a child was not breathing. Efforts to resuscitate the child were unsuccessful, Pasadena Police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said at the time.
From the outset, Mo’Nayjah’s death was considered suspicious.
Jackson, a resident of Lancaster, was eventually arrested in connection with the young girl’s death. Upon questioning, Jackson confessed to killing the child, Ibarra said.
At his sentencing on Aug. 12 at the Pasadena courthouse, he faces 25 years to life in state prison.
Follow me on Twitter at @lacrimes.
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