Photo Courtesy: LASD
David Paz Vasquez

Staff Reports

Baldwin Park – A 34-year old man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of murdering his 20-month old son.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, jurors deliberated on Tues., July 21 for about an hour before finding David Paz Vasquez guilty of one count each of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death. He was immediately sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Bruce Marrs.

Deputy District Attorney Deborah Scott, who prosecuted the case, said Vasquez was watching his son, Joshua, on June 12, 2013 at the family’s Baldwin Park home. After the toddler’s mother left for work, she received a call from a hospital saying the child had died.

Vasquez told investigators that he placed the child on a bed and told him not to move, the prosecutor added. The toddler fell onto the floor and Vasquez became upset and struck his son on the head and abdomen and then took him to the hospital. He was arrested that evening.

Injuries to the toddler included a smashed skull, broken ribs and internal bleeding in the abdomen.

During the trial, evidence was presented that when the child was five months old, he suffered a broken leg after Vasquez yanked him from the mother. After that incident, the toddler was placed in foster care for about a month, and then went to live at his grandmother’s house for six months. He was then returned to his parents.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.