Compton Man Convicted in 13-Month-Old Boy's Beating Death

COMPTON, CA - A Compton man was convicted Monday of second-degree murder and assault in the beating death of his girlfriend's 13-month-old son, who died after being hospitalized for nearly three weeks.

Jurors deliberated for less than a day before convicting 24-year-old Rodrigo Hernandez of one count each of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death.

Hernandez faces up to 25 years to life behind bars, with sentencing set for May 11.

Prosecutors said Hernandez was watching the infant on June 7, 2015, while the boy's mother was in another room of her apartment.

Family members told the woman at some point that her son was behaving strangely. When she went to check on him, the toddler began to have seizures and bruises began showing on his body, according to prosecutors.

Paramedics were called and the boy was hospitalized. A coroner's official testified that the boy died on June 26, 2015, from blunt force trauma to his abdomen.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock