The father of a nearly 2-year-old girl who was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in a vehicle in the unincorporated View Park community near South Los Angeles pleaded no contest Thursday to a felony count of child abuse resulting in death.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Armenui Amy Ashvanian sentenced Edwin Wallace Johnson, now 41, to serve 364 days in county jail during which he can be transferred to a minimum 180-day residential treatment program followed by an outpatient program, abstain from using alcoholic beverages, complete 52 weeks of child abuse classes and serve four years on felony probation.
The judge also imposed a 10-year protective order involving another child, whom he may visit with a monitor for a maximum of three hours three times a week.
The case stemmed from the death last Sept. 9 of Johnson’s daughter, who was identified by the county Medical Examiner’s office as Maeve Blakeley-Johnson.
The girl died as a result of hyperthermia, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said deputies responded that day to the 300 block of Chanson Drive, north of Slauson Avenue and east of Crenshaw Boulevard, after receiving a report of a child not breathing, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“The call involved a child who was found unresponsive in a vehicle. Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel also responded and pronounced the child deceased at the scene,” according to a statement released by the sheriff’s department.
Deputy District Attorney Kelly Kraetsch said outside court that the girl was left in a car seat in the vehicle parked in a driveway for approximately six hours, and that “substance abuse definitely played a role.”
Johnson’s attorney, Jacob Glucksman, called the girl’s death “a really tragic accident.”
“I appreciate the work that the District Attorney’s Office did to facilitate a reasonable and just outcome focusing on reuniting this family and providing a path forward for a stable future,” the defense attorney said outside court, adding that both sides feel that substance abuse treatment will be beneficial.
Johnson was initially arrested late the day of his daughter’s death, then released on bond the next day before being re-arrested, according to jail records, which indicated that he was subsequently released again on bond several days later.
He was taken into custody again by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in the courtroom after his plea and sentencing.