A woman pleaded guilty to killing her 10-month-old son, who died in January from blunt-force trauma to the head. Fabiola Mendoza Sainz, 27, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder, speaking with the help of a Spanish-language interpreter. Additional charges of child endangerment and assault on a child likely to produce great bodily injury that results in the child's death were dropped after her plea.
Sainz is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 16 in Superior Court, and will likely face 15 years to life in prison.
While it was unclear how the head trauma occurred, the baby also suffered from bleeding from the eyes, which is common when a baby is shaken vigorously, said Deputy District Attorney Stephen Foley.
"Whether the baby was hit against a wall, or just shook, we don't know," he said.
Sainz's baby was brought to an area hospital on Dec. 29 in a "non-responsive, labored breathing state," according to a police statement, and died at another hospital on Jan. 1.